Miracles happen when it snows
by VoyICJ
Summary: When Lorelai and Emily have a car accident, they are stuck with each other as they spent hours waiting for help. Luke and Richard in the meanwhile are forced to work together as they try to find the women they love. LL, ER
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The show, the characters etc. are not mine and unfortunately never will be. They belong to Amy Sherman- Palladino and the WB.

Summary: When Lorelai and Emily have a car accident, they are stuck with each other as they spent hours waiting for help. Luke and Richard in the meanwhile are forced to work together as they try to find the women they love.

Author's note: This story will focus on the Lorelai/ Emily relationship. It is set after the recent episodes. The plane scene between Emily and Lorelai happened, as did Luke's confession that he has a daughter. It's my story though and I didn't use everything from the recent episodes.

This story will focus on L/L and E/R as well. I am such a sucker for romance.

This is dedicated to Mareike, who sacrificed some of her precious time to beta this story. Thanks again for that! And now, enjoy the story:

**Miracles happen when it snows**

Emily was just finishing breakfast, when her husband walked down the stairs. She didn't even look at him, when she got up and started to put the newspaper away.

"Are you already finished?" Richard asked carefully as he watched his wife.

"Yes" was the only response he got.

Richard sighed quietly. He didn't know what he was supposed to do anymore. For weeks Emily's behaviour had been like this. Richard knew that he had hurt her badly with his attitude towards her in the last weeks. He shouldn't have criticised her life in the way he had, but his worry for Rory had controlled his thoughts.

Richard followed his wife into the living room: "Emily, I won't stay long at work today. I'll probably be back by four o'clock."

Emily only looked up shortly and nodded once, before she turned her attention back to sorting the mail. Richard hesitated for a moment. He had wanted to invite her out to dinner tonight, but now it didn't seem like his chances were very high that she would accept his invitation.

"Emily?" he tried carefully and wasn't surprised by the fact that she didn't look up. He waited for a few seconds and finally his wife lifted her head.

"Yes Richard?"

"Would you…. Uhm." He somehow didn't muster the courage to finish his question. "It's nothing. I will be back soon." He finished lamely and hated himself for it. Before Emily was able to avert her gaze he could see it again: the hidden look of sadness and disappointment on Emily's face. Tonight, he swore to himself, tonight he would sit down and apologize to her. With a last heavy sigh Richard turned around and left the house.

Emily listened to the sound of the front door closing and then resumed sorting through the mail. She knew that she didn't exactly make it easy for her husband, but she didn't intend to do that any time soon either.

He had hurt her too much during the last weeks. In a time where she would have needed him, because she had already felt like a complete failure, he had done nothing, but told her that her life was basically useless. Suddenly it had been her fault again that Rory was taking the wrong path in life and by now Emily was convinced that she really was a complete failure as a mother and grandmother. The only thing she had wanted to hear from her husband was that she wasn't a complete failure as a wife and woman as well.

Emily had just put on her coat to go out and run some errands, when the door bell rang. "I am going to get it, Sabina." She called out to the maid.

Whoever she had expected to find before her door, it certainly hadn't been her daughter.

"Lorelai?" Emily stared at her daughter with a surprised look on her face.

"Hey Mum, uhm can I use your phone?" Emily could tell that her daughter was insecure. She stepped aside to let her daughter in.

"Is there a problem?" Emily asked as she led Lorelai to the phone.

"Yes, I was in a store nearby, because I had to get something for the inn, and when I got out again to drive back home the car wouldn't start. It's simply dead, and then I noticed that I had forgotten my cell at the inn."

Emily was just about to say that her daughter should have gotten a new car years ago, but was able to stop herself in time.

"I am just going to call Luke, I am sure he'll be able to pick me up." Lorelai continued.

"Well, you don't need to call him. I can take you with me. I have to drive by Star's Hollow anyways, as I have to pick up the invitations for the next DAR function in Litchfield."

Lorelai could think of a thousand pleasant things to do, but being in a car with her mother in the next twenty minutes was definitely not on top of that list.

"Thanks mum, but uh it is snowing heavily and the roads aren't exactly free, so I don't want you to take a detour for me."

Lorelai knew right away that her mother was not giving her an option about driving with her, but she had had to try.

"That's nonsense Lorelai and you know it. I promise you won't have to talk with me during the drive. I am not your favourite person and vice versa. You own an inn, and have to get back to work. If you wait for Luke to come and get you, it will take another hour and a half at least. I won't beg you though, it's your choice." Emily walked to the front door and left Lorelai standing in the living room.

"Fine choice this is." Lorelai grumbled angrily, before she started to walk after her mother.

The younger Gilmore was surprised to find out that her mother actually kept her promise. They rode in silence until Emily suddenly left the main road and turned into a smaller road that was leading into the woods.

"Well, mum, what now? Are you trying to kidnap me? Luke knows that I was in Hartford, he'll come and look for me."

Emily rolled her eyes: "Lorelai, if you had listened to the traffic news, you'd know that there was an accident on the main road. We either end up in a traffic jam or people will crawl by with 5 mph. We'll take another road, that's all. Few people know it, so we should be able to get to Star's Hollow in no time."

Lorelai looked out of her window and took in her surroundings: "I had no idea this road existed."

"That's the reason why it is so scarcely frequented. I usually prefer the main road though, because there is less dear and it is better illuminated."

"Yeah, especially today it's a good thing to take a road in the middle of nowhere, with all the snow and the ice," Lorelai snorted.

"Is there anything I can do right, Lorelai? Anything at all?" Emily sighed in frustration.

Lorelai decided to ignore that question and continued to stare out of her window.

Emily was fuming. There she was, trying very hard to be nice to her daughter, but all the little Miss did was trying to provoke her.

Completely lost in her thoughts Emily didn't notice the dangerous glistering on the road, and when she finally saw it, it was too late.

The Mercedes lurched violently from one side of the road to the other and the more Emily tried to bring it back onto the road, the more it seemed to spin. With Lorelai's scared scream ringing in her ears the world turned black as the Mercedes crashed into a tree.

When Emily regained consciousness a few minutes later, it took her a moment to remember what had happened. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at a tree, the front mirror was shattered. She breathed a sigh of relief over the fact that she was still alive and then with unimaginable horror remembered her daughter.

Her head spun around and the sight that greeted her made her heart stop. Lorelai was still unconscious and blood was running down the right side of her face. It took Emily a moment to unbuckle her seatbelt. "Lorelai!" Emily pleadingly called her daughter's name. When she had freed herself of the seatbelt, Emily wanted to crawl over to her daughter, but a sharp pain that made breathing impossible stopped her.

The older Gilmore woman couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped her lips, but the worry for Lorelai made her ignore **it**.

She brought a shaking hand to her daughter's cheek and softly padded it. "Lorelai?" She kept calling her name, but when her daughter didn't react, her eyes started to tear up. "Lorelai, darling, please open your eyes. Lorelai, I am begging you. Please."

Tears were streaming down Emily's face, when her daughter's eyes finally started to flutter open.

"Lorelai!" Emily couldn't remember the last time she had been so happy in her life.

Lorelai looked at her mother for a few seconds, her eyes still unfocused: "Mum?"

Emily still had her hand on her daughter's cheek and caressed it gently: "We had an accident, dear. You're going to be fine."

Lorelai managed to lift her head a little, but groaned instantly: "Ugh, this makes a hangover seem like heaven."

She brought a hand up to her head, and was shocked to find blood there.

Emily had removed her hand and was now trying to open her door: "Stay calm, Lorelai, I am going to get the first aid kid out of the trunk. Don't move, we don't know how seriously injured you are."

Emily finally managed to push open her door, but then had to take a moment to catch her breath. Even though the sharp pain seemed to have become permanent now, Emily tried to will it away. She had to help her daughter.

Lorelai took a close look at her mother, she looked pale and battered, but otherwise seemed to be fine.

Eventually Emily found the strength to get out of the car, but as soon as she was standing, she had to hold onto the car for support. She tried to take deep breaths, but that turned out to be harder than it was supposed to be.

Lorelai had watched the scene from inside the car and was now fidgeting with her seatbelt: "Mum? Mum, wait, I am going to help you."

"No! Lorelai, you stay in the car, do you hear me!" Emily said shaking her head violently.

She took all her strength and managed to walk the few steps to the trunk. She got the first aid kid, and a blanket, before she returned to the car and allowed herself to fall back into her seat.

By now Lorelai was more than a little worried about her mother. Emily's face wasn't pale any more, it suddenly seemed to haven taken a bluish touch as well as Emily was visibly fighting for breath.

"What's wrong, mum? Are you having trouble breathing?"

Emily tried to smile at her daughter as breathing finally seemed to get easier again: "It's okay, I probably bruised my rib cage, that's all."

She opened the kid and took a bandage and the isolation blanket out. Lorelai kept still as her mother carefully wrapped the bandage around her head. When she was done Lorelai admired her mother's work:

"I didn't know you were such a perfect nurse."

"Well, I have many hidden talents. And now, wrap the blanket around you. It's going to prevent your body from cooling out", Emily said smiling a little.

Lorelai eyed the thin golden foil sceptically, but as she caught Emily's strict look she quickly obeyed and wrapped the blanket around herself. With some satisfaction she saw that her mother was doing the same thing with the other blanket she had gotten out of the trunk.

"So mum, maybe it's a good idea to call an ambulance now. Where's your cell?"

Emily's eyes widened in horror as she realized that she had left it at home. She had wanted to pack it into her purse, but when Lorelai had turned up at her door she had forgotten all about it.

"Oh mum, please don't tell me you forgot it…. Mum, what are we going to do now? We're stuck in the middle of nowhere. My head feels like I have drunken five bottles of vodka on my own and you don't look like life itself either! What are we going to do?"

"Lorelai!"

"We are going to freeze out here and no one is going to find us….."

"Lorelai!"

"…… and then I'll never marry Luke, and Rory is going to be on her own, and…"

"LORELAI!"

The younger Gilmore jumped at the sound of her mother screaming. Emily looked at her daughter with exasperation.

"We are going to be found. I am sure we're not the only ones using this road, and even if we are, your father and Luke will start worrying about us and they will go and search for us, and I am sure Richard will remember this road. You are going to be fine, and so will I, and now safe your strength!"

Emily wasn't exactly sure whether she was trying to convince Lorelai or herself that they were going to be saved, but she hoped that she hadn't lied to her daughter.

Lorelai opened her mouth to reply something, but thought better of it and kept silent.

Luke was rushing through his diner, the lunch crowd had just left and now he had to clean up before the coffee and cake crowd arrived.

When the phone rang, he threw his rag onto the counter and answered it.

"Luke, hey, this is Sookie. Tell your lovely fiancé to get her butt over here. We have some problems with the Snyders."

"Well Sookie, I'd love to, but she isn't here. She hasn't been here all day." Luke answered while he walked back to the counter and continued to clean it.

"That's strange. She wanted to drive to Hartford to get the new curtains, but that was hours ago. I thought she might have ended up in your diner on the way back."

Luke stopped the wiping and concentrated on the phone: "What do you mean with it was hours ago? Have you tried to call her cell?"

Sookie sighed heavily on the other end of the line: "Well, as she left it at the hotel, that wouldn't make much sense. She left at ten this morning, and now it's two pm. I was simply wondering. Uh, but don't worry, I am sure she is fine."

"Yeah, yeah… I am sure she is. Sookie, do me a favour and call me when she gets back. If she doesn't come back within the next hour, call me again as well."

"Alright, Luke, and you'll call me when she comes to the diner. See you later."

Luke put the phone back. He stood behind the counter and didn't really know what to do. It wasn't like Lorelai to simply disappear. He was sure that she would have found a way to call if there had been any delays. Luke couldn't help the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

"Mum?"

"Hm?"

"This is one of the most luxurious cars in the world and you want to tell me that you don't have a parking heater in here?" Lorelai said while turning her head towards her mother

Emily sighed; they had had the same discussion over and over again during the last hour.

"Yes Lorelai, I am very sure about that, and no, we can't try to start the car, because we tried that already and it didn't work!"

"So we just sit here, wait for someone to find us and in the meantime we'll freeze to death, or what!"

"I am sorry you have to go through this, Lorelai, but there's nothing I can do. I suggest you stop ranting or else you'll get a headache again." Emily said while fixing her stare at her daughter.

Lorelai wanted to give an angry reply, but at that moment she caught the look on her mothers' face. Emily had just averted her gaze to stare out of the front window again. There were deep lines of worry etched into her forehead, and from the way Emily moved with the outmost care Lorelai suspected that her mother was in pain. So instead of continuing to argue with her mother, Lorelai simply took her mother's hand, gave it a gentle squeeze and then fell silent again.

When Richard Gilmore returned home, he instantly called out for his wife. He had used the day to think about how he would ask Emily for forgiveness. He called out his wife's name again, but the only reply he got was the maid walking into the foyer.

"Good evening Mr. Gilmore."

She took his coat and executive case and put them away. Richard desperately tried to remember the new maid's name. Sarah maybe, or Kathryn…. or Lara, no Maria! Was it Maria? Maria was a good, solid name, he would go with that one.

"Uhm Maria?" He called out and was proud when the maid actually turned around.

"Yes Mr. Gilmore?"

"Have you seen my wife?"

"She left in the morning with your daughter. She hasn't returned yet." The maid answered shaking her head.

"My daughter, are you sure?" he asked surprised.

The maid nodded.

"How long has she been gone now?" Richard asked.

The maid thought about the question for a moment, before she answered.

"Since eleven o'clock I think. Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. Gilmore?"

Richard looked at his watch. It was half past three. What could Emily be doing that took so long? She hadn't mentioned any appointments or meetings. Where could she be? The maid was still standing in the foyer, unsure whether she was free to go or not.

"Oh Maria, you may go."

The maid turned around, but then stopped: "Uh Mr. Gilmore?"

Richard looked up. "My name is Sabina."

"Alright Sabina, I'll try to remember it", Richard chuckled.

The maid smiled and left the foyer. Richard was left to wonder where his wife could be.


	2. Ice queens and snow princesses

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: Thanks to all those of you, who reviewed! Those of you, who didn't: Shame on you lol. Just kidding. I love getting reviews, they make my day. So keep on reviewing ;)

Another big thanks to Mareike for proofreading the story!

And now, on with the story

Ice queens and snow princesses

At four o'clock it was rapidly starting to darken outside. Emily was still staring out of the window. During the last hours every possible scenario had played out in her head. What if they weren't found and had to spend the night in the car? The weather forecast had predicted a frosty night with temperatures around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Even though they had blankets, Emily knew that they wouldn't protect them against the cold.

She had thought about getting out of the car and walking back to the main road, but she had come to the conclusion that it would take them at least one hour, and in her case she would probably drop dead after half an hour.

When she turned around to talk to her daughter she was shocked to see her drifting off into sleep.

"Lorelai!"

Lorelai's eyes flew open at the sound of her mother's voice. "What is it Mum? Is there a car?" she asked, her eyes being hopeful.

"No, there is no car." Emily replied quietly.

"Then why the heck are you waking me up?" Lorelai complained.

"Don't you know that you are not supposed to sleep when you have a concussion?"

Lorelai stared at her mother with an incredulous look on her face: "What! Why not? Mum, I am freezing and my head hurts. I am really in no mood to encourage you to play doctor."

Instead of a response Emily removed her blanket and put it over her daughter.

"Lorelai, please do me a favour and don't close your eyes."

Lorelai sighed in frustration. "Fine Mum, but then you have to keep me awake."

Lorelai snuggled into the blanket, but instantly felt guilty when she saw her mother, who now had no blanket anymore, starting to shiver.

"Well Lorelai, what do you want to do? Ask me questions?" Emily smiled at her daughter.

"Any questions I want to ask you?" Lorelai asked with a devilish gleam in her eyes.

She started laughing when she saw how her mother tried to keep her composure.

"Well, that depends on the question. So, what do you want to know?"

Lorelai sat up with excitement, but instantly regretted the rash movement when her head started hurting again. She winced a little, but then focused back on the unique chance at her hands. "Okay, let's see… uhm." Lorelai desperately tried to think of a good question. "Uh, I know. Was there a boyfriend before you met dad?"

Emily had to laugh softly at her daughter. "Well yes there was."

Lorelai inched closer: "Spill! Who was it?"

"Robert Rubin." Emily said and then had to smile again when she saw her daughter's mind working.

"Uhm mum, do you mean THE Robert Rubin? Secretary of the Treasury Rubin?" Lorelai looked at her mother with huge eyes.

"Yes Lorelai, even though I didn't know that back then, of course."

"Does that mean that I could have met Bill Clinton if he had been my daddy? Mum!"

Emily was laughing again. "Lorelai, if Robert had been your daddy you wouldn't have been born. Think about it."

"Yeah, but still…. . It would have been cool, though. Why did you pick dad then?"

Lorelai was not only trying to find out something about her mother, but she was also trying to distract herself and her mother from the cold.

Emily didn't need to think long about her daughter's question. "I just knew it right away. I went to a party with my friends and there he was. He was discussing foreign politics with some of his friends. You should have heard him talking Lorelai, he was amazing. At some point he saw me and before I knew what I was doing I was discussing Germany's position in the Cold War with him. After that I just knew I'd have to have him. I didn't know how, but I knew that night that I wanted to marry him." A soft smile appeared on Emily's lips as she told the story.

"So what happened to Rubin?" Lorelai asked.

Emily turned to look at her daughter. "It was nothing serious with him. We went out on a couple of dates, a harmless kiss here and there and that was it. He was seven years older than me, you know. I simply told him that I didn't love him and that he'd soon find someone else who would. He left Yale a couple of weeks later."

"And then you decided to seduce dad with that mysterious blue dress." Lorelai said softly and smiled when she saw the dreamy look on her mother's face.

"Yes. I knew that I looked fabulous in that blue dress, but I didn't know that Richard would fall for me that quickly."

Lorelai sighed happily. "That's a beautiful story, Mum."

"Yes," Emily said and suddenly her voice took a bitter tone. "And that's what it is by now: a story."

Lorelai wanted to ask her mother what she meant by that, but Emily didn't give her the chance. "Well Lorelai, what else do you want to know?"

Lorelai thought about it for a moment and then remembered a question she had recently read about in one of those magazines she sometimes read for fun.

"Here's a tough one, Mum. If you got the chance to change one thing in your life what would that be?"

Emily wasn't sure what to think of the question. "What exactly do you mean by that, Lorelai?"

"Well, I don't know. Maybe you would buy the Chanel purse instead of the Prada one. Or you wouldn't get a child after all." Lorelai had meant to be funny, but she noticed right away that she had failed.

Her mother turned her head away again and stared out of the window, while Lorelai was feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"Uhm Mum, you don't have to answer that one. Wait, I'll think of a different question."

Before Lorelai was able to do that though, her mother turned her head back.

"You want an answer, Lorelai? I can give you one. If I were able to change one thing than I would change the day you left."

"Which day?" Lorelai was caught off guard by her mother's question, and wasn't able to think of any other question to ask.

"The day you ran away. If I had the chance to do it again, then I would be at home when you left. I would be there and stop you. I would be caring and understanding and together we'd think of a way to solve our problems. That's what I'd change." Emily explained earnestly. She looked deeply into Lorelai's eyes, before she averted her gaze again.

"Oh Mum…. ."

Lorelai looked at her mother and for once didn't know what to say. She knew perfectly well how to act around her mother, when she was angry or disappointed or simply stubborn, but Lorelai had never known how to act around her mother when she was completely honest and vulnerable.

Emily took the pressure away from her when she broke the uncomfortable silence.

"What about you Lorelai, what would you change?"

Lorelai frowned. Even though she thought the question to be a very interesting one, she hadn't given it much thought herself yet.

"I don't know, I am afraid." She knew it sounded very lame in that situation. "I really don't know."

Emily simply nodded.

* * *

Luke was pacing the diner nervously. It was half past four now and still there was no sign from Lorelai. He had tried to stay calm for the last hour, being sure that by now Lorelai would call any minute, and tell him that she had found an amazing shoe store and before she knew it, the whole afternoon had flown by.

It didn't happen, though, and now Luke was really worried. He tried to think of something to do and suddenly it occurred to him and he wondered why he hadn't thought of that before.

When the telephone rang, Richard jumped from the sofa and almost sprinted to get it. He was surprised to find Luke at the other end.

"Mr. Gilmore, hi, this is Luke Danes. I am sorry to disturb you, but have you heard something of Lorelai today?"

Richard felt a knot building in his stomach as he listened to his daughter's fiancé.

"Do you mean that Lorelai hasn't returned home yet?"

"Yes, that's what I mean. Why? Do you know something?"

"Then something must have happened." Richard hadn't really meant to say that aloud.

"Mr. Gilmore, what do you mean?" Luke was getting more and more nervous.

"Luke, it seems as if Lorelai has stopped by our house today, and that Emily has given her a ride. She hasn't returned home yet either."

"Do you think they had an accident?" Luke felt as if everything inside of him was clenching violently. He listened as his future father-in-law sighed heavily.

"I think that's a possibility, yes. Listen, we'll have to think practically now. I am going to call the hospital here in Hartford, and you'll call the one in Litchfield. If they had an accident then they should be in one of those hospitals."

"Okay, but shouldn't we call the police as well?"

"No, they don't begin searching for persons unless they are missing for more than 24 hours."

Luke was just about to ask how Richard knew that, but then remembered that he and Emily had probably found out about it the hard way when Lorelai had run away from home.

"Okay, then that's what we'll do. I'll call you again in ten minutes."

Even though both men dreaded calling the hospitals, they knew it had to be done.

* * *

Sookie had left the hotel in Tobin's capable hands fifteen minutes ago, but instead of driving straight home, she drove to Luke's diner.

When she came in Luke was on the phone.

"And you are sure that no one with the name of Lorelai or Emily Gilmore was brought to your hospital in the last hours? **- **Yes, thank you."

Luke put down the phone and then almost jumped when he finally noticed Sookie, who was standing at the counter.

"Sookie, I didn't even hear you coming in."

"Did you phone the hospital? Why? What's wrong?" Sookie asked frantically.

"It appears that Lorelai and her mother are missing. I just called her father and he is as worried as I am. Now I called Litchfield Hospital, but thank god they aren't there."

"How can they be missing? I mean if they had taken the main road someone would have noticed the accident." Sookie said trying to think of what could have happened.

"I know. I have to call Mr. Gilmore again. He wanted to check with Hartford Hospital. Could you wait till I have finished the call?" Luke asked her – not wanting to get the possible bad news alone.

He was relieved when Sookie nodded and smiled an encouraging smile at him. He dialled and wasn't surprised when Richard answered the phone right away.

"And? Any news, Luke?"

"No, they were not admitted to Litchfield Hospital and from the way you sound they weren't brought to Hartford Hospital as well."

"No they weren't."

Both men fell silent for a minute. On the one hand both of them were glad that the two women weren't in one of the hospitals, on the other hand it meant that they were still out there, and they didn't have a clue where they could be.

"Okay Luke, I am coming to Star's Hollow now. From the way I see it they are somewhere out there and we have to find them. They can't stay out there the whole night. Maybe you could find some people, who would be willing to help us to search for them."

"Of course, I'll do that. Someone should be at your house though, in case Emily comes home or someone calls." Luke interrupted Richard.

"You are right, I'll ask the maid to do it. I am sure she can be convinced by a bonus. I'll be in Stars Hollow in twenty minutes."

Luke didn't even have to tell Sookie what to do. She simply got up and walked to the door.

"I'll inform Jackson and the others. We'll meet at Lorelai's house. You should call Rory."

Luke nodded, he had almost forgotten about Rory. He hadn't wanted to worry her, but now it seemed inevitable that he called her. Luke watched Sookie go, before he threw his apron into the kitchen and locked the diner. Part of him wished that Lorelai would be at her house, smiling innocently at him when he arrived there, and the other part was sure that he would kill her with his bare hands if he would find her there.

* * *

Lorelai was tired. For the last hour she had asked her mother every question that had popped into her mind. She had found out about her mother's favourite book, movie, actress etc. Not only was Lorelai tired, but her head hurt as well and slowly, but surely she wasn't able to ignore the cold anymore. She had handed one of the blankets back to her mother after she'd realized that Emily was trying to hide her shaking from her daughter.

Lorelai was worried about her mother. Even in the dark she was able to see that her mother looked terribly exhausted and every now and then she suddenly winced as if she was in heavy pain. Lorelai didn't mention it though, because she knew that her mother would never admit it.

The younger Gilmore woman was surprised when her mother was suddenly addressing her.

"Don't you want to tell me what's wrong between you and Luke?"

Lorelai gaped at her mother. "What do you mean, Mum?"

"Well, usually your eyes glow when you talk about him. You haven't said much about him today, and the few times you did your eyes were devoid of any emotion."

Now look at that, Lorelai thought, she isn't as ignorant as I always thought. Emily was even a little too attentive for Lorelai's liking right now.

"It's nothing. Just the usual stuff." Now that sounded convincing, Lorelai thought sarcastically.

"It was just a question, Lorelai." Emily fell silent again.

Lorelai thought about her mother's question. It would only have been fair to share something with her mother after all the things her mother had shared with her, but Lorelai was in no mood to discuss her relationship with her mother.

"Here's a deal, Mum. I'll tell you about my problems with Luke if you tell me about yours with dad."

All she got in response was her mother's ironic smile.

* * *

When Richard arrived at Lorelai's house he was surprised to find quite a commotion there. He entered the house and was met by at least ten people running through the house.

Luke and Jackson were debating something while pointing at the map in front of them. Sookie was busy talking on the phone. Miss Patty, Kirk and Lulu were carrying blankets inside, while Babette was cooking coffee. Taylor, Morey and Michel were discussing the search teams.

Luke was the first one to notice Richard's entrance.

"Mr. Gilmore." He shook Richard's hand as he led the elder man to the table, where Jackson was still staring at the map.

"Luke, it looks like you've got everything organized."

Richard was impressed by the scene in front of him.

"Yeah well." Luke scratched his head, "Lorelai has got a lot of friends. It wasn't hard to convince them to help us search."

Richard nodded. "So, how do we proceed?" He turned to look at the map as well.

"As you can see there are three possible routes your wife and Lorelai could have taken. You and I will take this one, which leads directly through the woods. Jackson and Michel will try the one that runs a little farther north, and Kirk and Morey will take care of the third one." Luke said while he was pointing at the roads to show them to Richard, who nodded all the time. "The others will wait here for Rory. Every team takes two cell phones with them, some coffee and warm blankets." He continued now addressing everyone. "If one team finds them, they'll call an ambulance and Sookie, who'll stay here . We'll all meet at the hospital then. If we don't find them, we'll meet here again. Has everyone understood the plan?"

Luke looked at everyone. Kirk wanted to raise his hand to ask a question, but Jackson stopped him from doing so.

Luke turned to Richard again. "Are you okay with the plan?"

Richard nodded. "Very impressive work, Luke. Rory was informed?"

"Yes, she's on her way. She's worried of course." Luke explained and then turned back to the crowd in front of him. "Okay guys, let's go then. The sooner we find them, the better."

The women helped them storing the blankets into the cars and when they'd finished the men were off.

Sop, that's it. Let me know what you think. Just click on that lovely little button in the left corner and do it. Thank you!


	3. Kings and Knights

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Dedicated to: As always to lilienprinzessin, who has to put up with my never ending flow of ideas and still finds the time to offer great advice.

Author's note: Thank you sooooo much for your reviews! You made me smile all day. I hope you'll like the new chapter and don't forget to review ;)

Kings and Knights

Emily watched silently as her breath came out of her mouths in frosty clouds. She knew that her condition hadn't improved over the last hours. Breathing was becoming increasingly painful and even though she had little knowledge about medicine she knew that that wasn't a good thing.

She was sure that Lorelai suspected something, but she wasn't going to worry her even more.

"Mom?" Lorelai asked sleepily.

Emily smiled despite her situation. Over the last hours she and her daughter had talked more than they had in the past ten years.

"Yes, dear?"

"We are going to be found, aren't we? I mean, they are searching for us, right?" Lorelai had asked her mother the same question again and again during the last hour, but she needed to hear it again.

"Yes, Lorelai, I am very sure that while we are talking here, your father and Luke are searching for us." It was like a mantra Emily kept repeating over and over again.

Lorelai put her hand on her mothers'. "You are not going to die, are you?"

"What makes you think that?" Emily asked – surprised by the sudden question of her daughter.

"Mum, come on, I am not stupid." Lorelai answered – though she wasn't even sure why she was asking her mother this question.

"No, Lorelai, I do not plan on dying here." Emily replied firmly and hoped that she had sounded convincing.

"That's a good thing, because dad would kill me if you did." Lorelai chuckled softly.

"He would do no such thing, Lorelai! I was the one driving the car against a tree."

"Well, I don't think he'd care, because I would have been the one, who'd let his precious wife die."

Lorelai hoped to get a reply from her mother, but Emily simply smiled.

"Uhm mum, about me and Luke…." Lorelai hesitated for a second. Why was she doing this? Why did she feel the urge to tell her mother about hers and Luke's relationship now?

"Yes?" Emily said while looking at her daughter.

"Do you still want to know about it?" Lorelai prayed that this wasn't her daughter intuition kicking in, telling her that this might be the last chance she'd get to talk to her mother.

Emily simply nodded and waited for her daughter to continue.

* * *

"Jackson?"

Jackson was trying to focus on driving, and he really didn't have the nerve to answer one of Kirk's questions. Kirk had been supposed to drive with Morey, but even the calm and relaxed Morey had threatened to strangle Kirk before they had even taken off, so Jackson had offered to take him. Not that he had done it voluntarily, but Sookie had more or less threatened to end their marriage, if he delayed the departure of the search teams any longer.

"Yes Kirk?" Jackson replied grumpily.

"What if they are dead?"

Jackson wished he could have answered the question with a definite "They are not", but he couldn't. He had asked himself the same question already, and the truth was that he didn't know what they were supposed to do then.

"I don't know Kirk, but I am sure they are fine. Frozen stiff maybe, but not dead."

Kirk thought about it for a second. "I really don't want to be the one who finds them, Jackson."

"I am sure you won't be. From the way I see it there's only one road that would have been logical for them to take, and that's the road Luke and Richard have taken."

* * *

Luke and Richard had driven in silence during the last ten minutes, both men lost in their own thoughts. Although they had taken Richard's Mercedes, because it was a four wheel drive and had the better tires, it was Luke who was driving it.

Richard had admitted that he wasn't the best driver on snow and the last thing they needed was them having an accident as well. After some hesitation Luke had agreed to drive the car.

"We have to find them!" Luke said out of the blue.

Richard tore his eyes away from the road to look at his future son in law.

"Yes we do."

"No, I mean we really have to find them, because there are a lot of things I have to say to Lorelai, and she needs to hear them…. all of them." Luke didn't know where all this was coming from. Over the past hours he had been able to keep his fears and feelings of guilt to himself and now, suddenly he felt the urge to share all of this with a man, who didn't even like him. Richard had kept silent, sensing that Luke wasn't finished yet.

"I screwed up you know? This is time it was me, who screwed up. Now listen to that, I am ranting like Lorelai." Luke sighed heavily. He felt embarrassed. He should have stayed quiet. He was surprised to hear Richard sighing as well.

"Well, Luke, that would make two of us."

"What do you mean?" Luke had taken his eyes off the road briefly to look at the elder man beside him.

"Let's just say my chances to win the husband of the year award are very slim this year."

"I am sure my story is going to beat yours."

Luke wasn't sure whether he was trying to comfort Lorelai's father or wallowing in his own guilt.

Richard was smiling at Luke. "Well, let's do it this way. We both tell our stories and afterwards decide who is the worst husband or husband to be, and the loser will pay the winner a beer…. or Scotch, in my case."

"This is ridiculous. I hope you know that. We should be focused on finding Lorelai and your wife." Luke said while he was scanning the road for any signs of Emily's car.

"We can do both, Luke. Now, tell your story." Richard answered - his eyes being glued to the road as well.

* * *

"Hello? Sookie?" Rory stormed into her mother's house and was glad when Sookie instantly appeared in the door and pulled her into a hug.

"Rory, you're here!"

Rory was looking from Sookie to Ms. Patty, Babette and Lulu, who were all sitting on the couch or the nearby chairs.

"Any news from mum? What happened? Where's Luke?" she asked frantically.

"Woah, slow down, honey. Sit down and we'll tell you everything we know."

Sookie led Rory to the couch, where Ms. Patty and Babette proceeded to crash her with their hugs.

"Ugh, air…. Help," she mumbled.

AsRory was finally able to free herself from Ms. Patty and Babette she listened with increasing worry as Sookie told her everything about her mother's and grandmother's disappearance and how Luke and her grandfather and all the others were now trying to find them.

"They will find them, right?" Rory asked and couldn't help the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Of course they will, doll. You know your mum, she's a fighter! And that Emily, someone who drinks that much rum can't be taken down by something like an accident," Babette explained in her unique way and Rory was desperate to believe her.

* * *

"…. so to sum up my story: I have a daughter, whom I didn't even know about, whom I didn't tell Lorelai about and as if I hadn't been a great enough jerk, I also postponed our wedding." Luke finished his tale.

"Well son, you sure know how to screw up." Richard said quietly.

Luke nodded and then turned to Richard. "Try to compete against that. What did you do?"

Richard sighed heavily. "I basically told my wife that I think her life is frivolous and meaningless and gave her the feeling that she is a complete failure as a mother."

"I didn't know you could be like that." Luke said with huge eyes.

With that both men fell silent again and resumedstaring at the road.

* * *

"And then Luke agreed to postpone the wedding, which makes me… not mad, but disappointed somehow."

Lorelai carefully looked at her mother and awaited her reaction. Never before had she opened up so much towards her mother and now she was afraid that it had been a great mistake. She knew that her mother hated Luke, and she blamed it on her concussion that she was trying to get some sympathy from her mother.

Emily was thinking hard about what to say. Even though she understood her daughter's heartache, she couldn't get over the fact that they were talking about Luke. A man she considered highly inappropriate for her daughter and whom she secretly was jealous of.

The awkward silence between Lorelai and her mother was suddenly broken by the sound of a distant car engine.

"Mom, there's a car coming! There's a car! Turn on the lights, they'll be able to see us better then!"

Emily quickly obeyed and hoped with every fibre of her being that their martyrdom was finally coming to an end.

Richard instantly spotted the faint light. "Luke, over there!"

Luke noticed it, too, and sped up. When they reached the car, their Mercedes came to a screeching halt and both men practically jumped out of it. Emily's car was heavily damaged, the front was minimized to half of its' original length and both men dreaded the sight they might find inside.

Richard instantly hurried to Emily's side as Luke ran over to Lorelai.

"Emily." Richard tried to hide the panic he was feeling as he looked at his extremely pale wife, after he had ripped open her door.

Emily smiled at him gently. "I am fine Richard, it looks worse than it is. You have to help Lorelai."

Richard looked over to where Luke was pressing Lorelai to him tightly.

"Don't worry love, Lorelai is being taken care of," he assured her.

Emily turned her head and for a moment took in the reunion of her daughter and Luke. She felt Richard's hand on her back and turned to him once more.

"Come on up Emily, we will bring you to the hospital."

Emily nodded and allowed Richard to help her out of the car. All the tension and worry of the past hours were leaving her as she watched how Luke was carefully guiding Lorelai to the car. He had his arm protectively draped over her shoulder to steady her.

As she felt all the stress of the past hours leaving her body, she also felt exhaustion taking over. Emily tried to hide the fact that breathing was becoming increasingly difficult for her again, but after three steps she had to give up.

Richard had his arm draped over his wife's back so that he could support her while walking to the car. When her legs started to give away under her body, he reacted quickly and was able to catch her, before Emily could hit the frozen ground.

"Emily!" Richard called frantically.

Luke, who had just helped Lorelai into the passenger seat, whirled around. He instantly realized what had happened and opened the door for his future father-in-law.

Richard scooped Emily up in his arms and hurried to the car.

"We'll have to hurry," he said helplessly as he gently put his wife into the car, and then got in at the other side.

"Don't worry, we'll be at the hospital in no time," Luke answered, trying to sound reassuring – but the truth was that he wasn't able to tell how long they'd need for the ride.

Lorelai was deeply worried, she had suspected that her mother was more seriously hurt than she had admitted, but she hadn't been able to help her. She looked into the rear mirror and saw how her father was gently holding his barely conscious wife, who was leaning against him. He was whispering reassuring things into her ear and now and then he kissed her head softly. Lorelai was able to see the tears in her father's eyes.

"Drive faster, Luke, please drive faster." Lorelai urged quietly.

Luke was just about to reply that he couldn't do that because of the snow and the ice, but when he too looked into the rear mirror, he put his foot down on the gas.

When they arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later, Luke was afraid to get out of the car, because his legs were shaking badly. He had driven like a madman, and more than once had he thought he would lose control over the car. He hurried over to Lorelai's side to help her out of the car. Richard was already carrying Emily into the Emergency room, where he instantly caught the attention of a doctor.

"What happened?" The young doctor asked as he ordered two male nurses to get a stretcher.

"My wife and daughter were in a car accident," Richard explained as he put Emily on the stretcher, while Lorelai was helped into a wheel chair by Luke.

Both men watched helplessly as the two women they loved were being taken away. They continued to stand in the middle of the corridor for another five minutes, both lost in their thoughts. After some time Luke put his hand on Richard's shoulder, and both men went over to two chairs and allowed themselves to fall into them.

"They are going to be fine," Luke offered helplessly, but he only got a silent nod in return.

"Jesus!" Luke suddenly exclaimed as he jumped out of the chair. "We forgot to tell the others. I am going to call Rory." With that he hurried outside.

Richard was left sitting in the corridor alone. He was unable to get the images of his wife out of his head. What if she died? What if Lorelai, too was severely hurt? What would he do? He put his head into his hands and closed his eyes.

He opened them again when he suddenly heard a commotion around him. Looking around he saw doctors and nurses hurrying to the ward where Emily and Lorelai had just been brought into. He felt sick to the bone as everything inside of him clenched painfully. He got up to see what was going on, and ran right into Luke.

"What is going on?" Luke asked, worried by Richard's look.

When Richard didn't answer, but continued to hurry into the direction where the doctors had gone, Luke ran after him: "Richard, what the hell is wrong?"

Richard stopped in front of the doors, and looked inside: "Some sort of alarm went off in there….. I thought that…. maybe….. ," he wasn't able to finish the sentence.

* * *

That's it for today, but the new chapter will be up soon. Let me know what you think. 


	4. Bonding

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: I wanted to thank all my lovely reviewers again! I want to hug all of you! Keep on reviewing ;)

Then I have to announce that it could take me longer to update in the next two weeks, because it's finals time, and you don't want me to fail, do you? The next chapter is almost finished though and I hope I'll be able to put it up soon.

Dedicated to: Lilienprinzessin of course, who doesn't complain about having to write a term paper and correcting my stories at the same time. Also to Lena, who didn't laugh ;)

**Bonding**

When a nurse came outside, Luke and Richard almost jumped at her. "What is wrong?" both of them exclaimed.

The nurse was startled. "Uhm excuse me Sir, can I help you?"

"My name is Gilmore. My wife and daughter are in there. Is something wrong?" Richard asked – trying to keep his emotions under control.

"No Mr. Gilmore, the alarm had to do with a heart attack patient. I don't know anything about your wife and daughter, but a doctor should be out soon to talk to you," the nurse answered, smiling understandingly.

Richard and Luke breathed a sigh of relieve, before they walked back to the chairs and sank into them again.

It didn't take long before a doctor stepped out of the Emergency ward and walked over to them.

"Mr Gilmore?"

Richard shot out of his chair. "Yes?" The doctor eyed Luke questioningly, but Richard quickly put his hand on Luke's shoulder. "This is my daughter's fiancé."

The doctor nodded and then looked into his notes: "Well Mr. Gilmore it seems that your daughter has only suffered a mild concussion. We took care of the wound on her head, she needed to have stitches, but it's nothing serious. We'll keep her in over night to be sure she's alright and to raise her body temperature some more, but if she's as stable tomorrow as she is today, she'll be able to go home tomorrow."

Richard smiled as he saw Luke's whole body relax.

"With your wife the situation is different though," the doctor continued and Richard felt panic taking hold of him again. "She broke one of her ribs during the impact and the rib plunged into her left lung, which caused the lung to collapse. We call that a pneumothorax." Richard briefly closed his eyes, but opened them again when the doctor continued.

"She was able to breathe with the other lung, but it is necessary to perform surgery as soon as possible now. The situation at hand isn't an optimal one. From what I gathered she was out there for quite some time, and the longer it takes to tend to the injuries the higher the risk that there will be complications. Your wife is also suffering from advanced hypothermia, but we have to take the risk and perform surgery now. Do you agree to have surgery performed on your wife?"

Richard nodded slowly. "Yes, of course. Do everything you can to help her. Can I see her before the surgery?"

The doctor shook his head. "No, we already sedated her to safe her body from further stress. I am sorry Mr. Gilmore, but you can go and see your daughter now. She is in room 214."

Richard nodded sadly. Luke waited till the doctor had left again and then put a hand on Richard's shoulder. "She is going to be fine, Richard, she is a strong woman."

"You should go to Lorelai now, I am sure she is waiting for you." Richard said while he tried to smile at Luke, but from the look on Luke's face he was able to tell that he had failed miserably at the attempt.

"Are you sure… I mean I could stay with you until the others arrive." Luke replied - drawn between wanting to see Lorelai and his concern for her father.

"No, Son, you go. I'd like to be alone for a minute."

Luke nodded quietly and then hurried off to see Lorelai.

* * *

When he opened the door to her room, he instantly spotted her lying in bed, a bandage around her head. She started to smile her unique smile at him as soon as she saw him entering her room.

Luke was by her side with a few steps and hugged her tightly: "Don't ever do that again, do you hear! Never!"

Lorelai gently patted the back of her fiancé's head. "I promise, Luke."

Luke secretly wiped some tears away and then turned to look at Lorelai. "Does it hurt?"

"No, I am fine, really. I was very lucky," Lorelai replied, shaking her head.

Luke nodded and couldn't help thinking of Richard, who had the worst hours of his life in front of him.

"Luke?"

He knew what Lorelai was going to ask, before she even had the time to finish her question.

"Luke, do you know something about my mother? How is she?"

He gently took her hands in his and had to watch how Lorelai's face contorted with fear.

"She is in surgery. Apparently one of her ribs broke and plunged into her left lung. But don't worry, the doctor said she is going to be fine."

"Did he really say that or are you saying that to keep me from worrying?" Lorelai asked, studying his face intently.

He smiled at her in return. "You know me too well. She is going to be fine, though. I know she will."

Lorelai nodded, before she put her head on Luke's shoulder and allowed him to comfort her. She couldn't believe how safe she felt in his arms and how much she wished her mother could see them now.

* * *

Richard's wish wasn't fulfilled, because soon after Luke had left, the doors to the Emergency ward burst open and in came Rory, Sookie, Jackson, Kirk, Morey, Babette and Michel.

Ms. Patty and Lulu had stayed in Stars Hollow to inform the others and to await further news.

Rory instantly spotted her grandfather in one of the chairs. "Grandpa!"

She ran over to him and hugged him tightly: "How is Mum? How is Grandma? Where is Luke?"

Sookie gently put a hand on Rory's back. "Rory, let the poor man answer."

"Your mother is fine, she has a mild concussion, it's nothing serious. Luke is with her right now."

He smiled at his granddaughter and watched as the group of people in front of him breathed a collective sigh of relieve.

"And how's Grandma?" Richard heard the concern in his granddaughter's voice. He knew that she felt especially guilty since her relationship with her grandmother hadn't been the best one in the last couple of weeks.

"She is in surgery right now, she has a broken rib and some lung trouble, but she's going to be fine. Your mother is in room 214. I think she'd be happy to see you."

Rory nodded gravely, and before she went to see her mother, she hugged her grandfather again tightly. He returned her hug and then quietly watched as Rory and Lorelai's friends made their way to Lorelai's room.

He waited until they were out of sight, before he turned around and walked outside. He took a deep breath of fresh air and then began to wander aimlessly through the snow.

He thought about his wife and their marriage. He remembered their good times and the bad times, too. He agonized over the fact that he had hurt her in the last weeks by saying that the life she led was useless. He hadn't meant it that way and now he wished he had never said something. It didn't take long before silent tears were running down his cheeks. He didn't try to wipe them away. There was no one on the street, no one who could see him.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity he prayed to god and pleaded for some more years with his wife.

* * *

Lorelai felt so comfortable with Luke sitting in bed next to her that she was just about to fall asleep, when the doors to her room burst open and what seemed to be half of Stars Hollow's population came hurrying through them.

"Mum!" Rory exclaimed.

Lorelai was awake right away and opened her arms to hug her daughter.

"Hey sweetheart," she said as she patted Rory's head while her daughter clung on to her.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt?" Rory asked, looking at the bandage around her mother's head.

"No, I am fine. Looks pretty cool, though, doesn't it?" Lorelai was grinning at her daughter, who rolled her eyes in response. Lorelai then turned to her friends.

"So, what are you all doing here?"

Sookie stared at her best friend incredulously. "We helped to search for you! We were worried, Lorelai… and you are joking again," Sookie said and started to smile.

Lorelai grinned broadly at her friends and then allowed all of them to hug her, or in Michel's case wave at her. Kirk then went on to tell how he and Jackson had almost died, because a giant raccoon had jumped onto the street. When everyone had stopped laughing again, Lorelai yawned demonstratively.

"Oh doll, you must be so tired. We are leaving now," Babette said and pulled at Morey's jacket.

"Yes she is right. I left Martha and Davey with Ms. Patty, and you know how she is around little boys," Sookie said, still smiling at Lorelai.

"When I am home tomorrow, we'll have a little party, okay? Celebrating my second birthday." She turned to Luke with excited eyes. "Do I get presents?"

Luke rolled his eyes, but then nodded and smiled at her.

"Okay, hun, tomorrow at your house. I'll bring the food." With a last hug Sookie and the others left the room again. Rory was still sitting on her mother's bed.

"Mum, do you know anything else about grandma?" she asked worried

Lorelai smiled at her daughter and put a hand on her arm. "She is going to be fine, I promise." Lorelai tried to sound as reassuring as she could, even though it wasn't easy for her.

Luke sighed heavily. "Maybe we should have called an ambulance."

Lorelai put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "Luke, don't worry about that. It would have taken at least half an hour till an ambulance would have found us. It was right that you drove us here directly," she said smiling at him and was glad when he smiled back at her.

"Maybe I should go out and check on grandpa. He looked so sad," Rory offered.

"Honey, I think that's a good idea. Get him something to read, and a coffee." At that Lorelai's head shot around to Luke. "Uh Luke, that reminds me…. Coffeeeeee!" Lorelai whined, but Luke stared at her hard.

"No Lorelai, not today. You may get some when you return home tomorrow." Not even Lorelai's best puppy-eyed-look changed his opinion.

* * *

Richard didn't know how long he had been wandering around, but when he was coming closer to the hospital again, he suddenly heard a voice calling out for him.

"Grandpa!"

Richard quickened his step and hurried back to the hospital, where he was met by Rory.

"Rory, what's wrong? Is something with your grandmother?" He was frantic, so Rory quickly put a hand on her grandfather's arm.

"No, Grandpa, there's nothing wrong. I was looking for you but I couldn't find you, so I was getting worried," she answered and she was glad to see her grandfather relaxing again.

"I am fine, Rory. There's no need to worry about me," he said while he smiled at his granddaughter and hoped that she would believe him.

"Let's go back inside. It's freezing out here," Rory replied shivering, so Richard put his arm around her shoulder and walked back inside with her.

As soon as they had entered the hospital again, a nurse came up to them, holding a small bag in her hands.

"Are you Mr. Gilmore?"

"Yes, that's me."

Richard was looking at the bag and knew what was inside even before the nurse went on to tell him about it.

"We collected you wife's belongings. We brought her clothes to one of the rooms, but we thought you might like to take her jewellery." The nurse explained, looking at him kindly.

Richard had to take a calming breath before he took the bag with shaking hands.

"Thank you," he managed to say.

The nurse simply smiled at him and then turned around to walk away.

"Wait, is there any news on my grandmother?" Rory asked quickly.

"No, I am sorry. She is still in surgery. A doctor will come and talk to you as soon as the surgery is finished."

Rory nodded and then remained standing next to her grandfather as they watched the nurse walk away.

"Do you need something, Grandpa? A coffee maybe?" Rory asked and studied her grandfather.

He was still staring at the bag with an indescribable look on his face. When she put a hand on his arm, his head jerked up.

"What? Uh, oh no Rory. Thank you, but I am fine," Richard answered trying to sound convincing.

"Well then let's sit down and talk a little," she suggested and smiled encouragingly at her grandfather. The sadness in his eyes tore at her.

"Rory, you don't have to do that. You should go and see your mother." Richard looked down on the small bag in his hands again.

"Luke is still with her, and I think she's going to sleep soon. She was pretty tired."

Rory linked her arm through her grandfathers' and led him over to the waiting area. It was a quiet night, even though the roads were icy, they were the only ones in the small room.

For a few moments they just sat there. Rory wanted to give her grandfather a little time, but after a few minutes she reached over and took the bag out of his hands.

"May I?" she asked and was relieved when her grandfather nodded.

She opened the bag and looked at its contents. She took out a pair of simple, but elegant earrings and looked at them for a moment. The two immaculate white pearls captured the light of the lamp hanging over her.

"I bought her those in South Africa," Richard explained quietly.

"I didn't know you two have been to South Africa." Rory said, looking at her grandfather with interest.

"Your grandmother wasn't, I was. I had to go there on a business trip shortly after your mother had been born. I think she was six weeks old. I tried to convince Emily to come with me, but she refused. In the first months after your mother's birth there was no way you could have torn Emily away from the baby."

"Really?" Rory wasn't really convinced by that. That didn't sound like the horrible not-caring mother her mum had told her about.

"She loved your mother very much. She still does, you know." Richard had this far away and sad look on his face again, so Rory tried to change the topic.

She took one of the rings out of the bag and admired it. It was an elegant, platinum ring with a large diamond in the middle. The large one was surrounded by three smaller ones on each side.

"This is so beautiful," Rory breathed.

Richard turned to look at her and then smiled gently. "Do want to hear another story?"

"Of course." Rory answered, being glad that her grandfather was talking.

"That is the first ring I bought her after we got married… the first time," he added and chuckled softly, "It's from Chopin and it cost me a fortune back then. I thought your grandmother would kill me when she found out about the price."

"How did she find out? I thought you didn't tell people about the price of gifts."

Richard's face became serious again. "Well, my mother was kind enough to tell Emily. She accused her of having turned me into a mindless fool, because I spent so much money, even though we couldn't afford it at that time." Richard fell silent again and Rory didn't know what to say. She put a hand on her grandfather's arm, and patted it softly.

"I should have told my mother to stop… I…," Richard couldn't finish the sentence. He looked at Rory and started smiling again.

"Well, what else have we got? I am sure I know a story about all of her jewellery."

Rory smiled at her grandfather and then put her hand into the bag again. When she realized what she had taken out of the bag, she wanted to drop it again, but Richard stopped her from doing so. He took the simple golden ring out of Rory's hands and studied it intensly. There was a single word engraved inside: "_Always_". Two dates were engraved on the left and the right side. The dates of their first and their second wedding day.

He carefully turned the ring around, and remembered how excited he had been on his wedding day. Even though he had been nervous, there had never been any doubt for him that Emily was the only woman he wanted to marry. Even after all those years he would have been able to paint a picture of her as she slowly walked down the aisle towards him. She had been smiling her unique dazzling smile at him, and he had wanted to kiss her right there, but he had had to wait till the ceremony was over.

He snapped out of his trip to the past, when he felt Rory patting his arm again.

"Can you imagine that her ring size hasn't changed in all those years? She still has the same slender fingers she had when we married."

He put the ring into the pocket of his shirt and then allowed Rory to lay her head on his shoulder. Together they looked at the big clock that hung on the opposite wall and watched as the seconds seemed to crawl by.

* * *

Lorelai hadn't even realized that she had dozed off, but when someone gently shook her shoulder, it took her some time to get awake again.

"Hu? What? Mum, I told you not to wake me," she murmured and turned around again.

"Miss Gilmore, this is Dr. Reynolds, I need you to wake up," he demanded.

Lorelai opened her eyes and stared at the doctor.

"I am sorry, I thought you were my mother," she yawned widely.

"How do you feel?"

He took his small flashlight and made her follow the light with her eyes.

"My head hurts a little," she replied and only then did she notice that Luke was standing next to the door and watched her.

"That's normal Miss Gilmore. I will have a nurse bring you another aspirin," the doctor said smiling at her. "We have to make sure that your condition doesn't change. We will wake you up every few hours to check whether you are disorientated or start having trouble with your memory. I think you are fine, though."

"Yeah, me and my large head, a story continued," Lorelai replied, smiling at the doctor, who didn't quite know what she was referring to.

"Alright, try to sleep a little again, and I will come back in three or four hours."

He turned around to leave, but Lorelai held him back.

"Any news from my mother?"

"No, Miss Gilmore. I am sorry. I'll make sure that someone will come and inform you about the surgery as soon as it is finished."

Lorelai nodded and with that the doctor left the room.

Luke moved to sit besides her again. He put an arm around her shoulder.

"How long has it been now, Luke?" Lorelai asked quietly.

"Five hours. I am sure the surgery will be over soon," he tried to assure her while he gently massaged Lorelai's back.

"Where are Rory and my dad?" Lorelai asked as she relaxed into Luke's massage.

"I am afraid I don't know, but I can go and find out," he offered and stopped the massage to get up.

Lorelai protested softly, but then there was a knock on the door and a nurse entered. Luke smiled at Lorelai again before he left the room.

* * *

It didn't take Luke long to find them. They were still sitting in the waiting area. Rory had fallen asleep and Richard was worried that he'd wake her if he moved.

They had gotten company about half an hour ago. A woman around his age was sitting in the chair opposite to him. She had her family with her. A young woman was holding her hand, and Richard guessed it was her daughter. A young man was rocking a sleeping baby in his arms and talked softly with what appeared to be his wife.

Richard had watched them for the last thirty minutes and had tried to imagine what they were doing here, whom they were waiting for. They all looked rather pale and worried.

When he looked up he saw Luke entering the waiting room.

"Hey Richard, how are you holding up?"

"I am fine. Rory fell asleep a while ago. How is Lorelai?" Even though Richard couldn't remember the last time he had felt that exhausted, he knew he wouldn't sleep until he was sure that Emily was out of surgery and well. Gut

"The doctor just checked on her, and said that she is fine."

Richard nodded his head in relief. He felt guilty that he hadn't found the time to see his daughter yet.

Neither Luke, nor Richard had noticed a doctor entering the waiting room, but the sound of the elder woman breaking into sobs startled them both. Richard watched with a horrified look as the family moved closer together to comfort each other as they unmistakably mourned the death of a loved one.

Rory had woken up due to the tumult around her and looked at Luke and her grandfather with a confused look.

"What is wrong?" she asked still a little sleepily.

Luke caught the look on Richard's face and reacted quickly. He put an arm under Richard's elbow and pulled him up. "Come on. Richard, let's go."

He stirred Richard out of the waiting room and away from the heartbreaking scene. Rory followed behind, but when she looked back she saw the elder woman holding her daughter to her. Sobs were racking her body and watching that Rory couldn't stop her own tears from falling.

"Richard, why don't you go and see Lorelai now? I am sure she would be happy to see you," Luke suggested.

He was worried about Lorelai's father, because Richard was white as a sheet.

Rory stood behind him and desperately tried to stop crying. She wanted to be strong for her grandfather.

"Richard?" Luke asked again. He put a hand on Richard's shoulder and shook him carefully. Finally Richard seemed to react and looked at Luke.

"Yes, yes maybe you're right," he managed to say and took a deep shattered breath.

"She is going to be fine, don't stop believing it." Luke tried to assure him. He still had his hand on Richard's shoulder and only removed it, when Richard nodded again.

"I am going to see Lorelai now," he said and slowly walked to his daughter's room.

Luke watched till he was sure that Richard had made it to Lorelai's room, and then turned around to Rory. Without a word he opened his arms and hugged her. He allowed her to sob against his shoulder. It didn't feel weird anymore to hug and comfort her, it felt natural.


	5. Breakthrough

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB.. yaddada yaddada.

Author's note: I am soooo sorry! I am a bad girl, I know. Each semester I tell myself: This semester you are going to do your stuff right away and each semester I end up spending the last three weeks of semester with constant studying and less than six hours of sleep each night. I guess it's my fault… I promise I'll update more frequently again now.

Anyways, thank you soooo much for your reviews. I love you guys! I am sorry I didn't reply to all of them, but I'll do it again this time. I promise.

As always this chapter is dedicated to lilienprinzessin, who is the best Beta ever and very understanding, too. It is also dedicated toxxAllyxxand Riska, who are very faithful and amazing reviewers!

And now I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter!

**Breakthrough**

Richard carefully walked into his daughter's room in case she was sleeping. He instantly spotted Lorelai in her bed. She was watching television, but when she saw her father, she turned it off and sat up in her bed.

"Hey Dad."

Richard smiled at his daughter as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"How are you Lorelai?" He asked while looking at his daughter's bandaged head.

"Better than you, I'd say," Lorelai answered, smiling at her father sympathetically.

"I am fine, Lorelai," He replied and tried to smile convincingly.

"How often did you say that today?" Lorelai questioned him. She knew her father and wasn't fooled by his attempt.

"About one hundred and twenty two times I think," Richard chuckled softly.

"I thought so. Have you eaten anything?" She looked at her father's tired and pale face.

"No, I am not hungry," Richard sighed heavily.

Lorelai didn't know what to do. She wanted to tell her father that her mother was going to be fine, but she suspected that he had heard that too often today. She gently put a hand on top of her fathers', and was glad when he didn't pull back.

"I am sure the surgery will be over soon."

"Yes…. . I am just glad that you are alright. Your mother would never have gotten over it if something had happened to you." Lorelai was touched by her father's words.

They fell silent for a few minutes until Richard suddenly put his face in his hands. Lorelai wasn't sure whether or not he was crying, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do now. She wasn't used to witness her father showing emotions. He had always been the proud and strong one. After hesitating for a second, she put a hand on her father's arm and patted it.

"Dad, I know everyone is saying it, but I am sure she is going to be fine. There are so many things you two have left to do, I am sure she doesn't want to miss them," She offered helplessly.

Richard took a deep breath and then looked at his daughter again.

"Do you know that I had to promise her that she would be allowed to go first?" Richard asked with a thick voice.

"Oh Dad, that doesn't mean anything," Lorelai hated to see her father like that. She didn't even want to think about what would happen, if her mother died. Lorelai was surprised to find her own eyes filling with tears. Even though she had known that her mother's condition was serious and the possibility of her death had occurred to her, this was the first time she was really afraid that it could happen. She remembered her father's words, that you only had one set of parents.

"I don't want to lose her," Lorelai finally said and a single tear ran down her cheek. When her father leaned forward and opened his arms for her, Lorelai wasn't sure what to do for a second. She couldn't remember the last time her father had hugged her. It had probably been when she had fallen off her bike at the age of six.

She finally gave into his hug and was surprised to find out that it felt good. She felt strangely protected as she allowed her father to hold her and pat the back of her head.

* * *

Luke and Rory sat in the hall quietly. Luke had gotten them two cups of coffee. Even he had felt like he needed one now. He felt ten years older than he had in the morning.

"Are you okay, Luke?"

"Yeah… it's just, I hate this hospital," He answered Rory's question with a sigh.

"Because of your parents?" Rory asked carefully. Even though she had known Luke almost all her life, and he was her mother's fiancé, they had never really talked about personal matters.

"Yes, they both died here," Luke inevitably had to think back to the time. He had been sitting here just like Rory and he did now. He had waited and hoped, and then found out that his father had died. The most important person to him had left him.

"I am sorry," Rory didn't know what else to say.

"It's okay. It's been a long time ago…. but it still hurts sometimes," Luke replied and then smiled shyly at Rory. He wasn't going to tell her what was going on his head. Not in this situation.

Before Rory knew what she did, she put her head on Luke's shoulder.

"I don't want her to die. Not now…. I've been so ungrateful."

Luke put his arm around Rory's shoulder.

"I am sure she is going to be fine, Rory, I really do. Even though it would be more like Emily to die and leave you feeling guilty for the rest of your life," Luke said dryly.

Rory didn't want it to happen, but she still had to laugh.

"Luke, you are evil," she said and dried her eyes.

"I know, but you laughed," he smirked and squeezed her shoulder. He was just about to say some more, when he saw a doctor walking purposefully towards Lorelai's room.

"Rory, I think the surgery is over." He nodded into the direction of the doctor, and was surprised that Rory wasn't jumping up at once. Rory wasn't sure she could take it if her grandmother had died. The waiting had been horrible, but getting the news wasn't easy either.

"Come on, Rory, we'll find out sooner or later anyway." He said and pulled Rory up. Both went to follow the doctor into Lorelai's room.

Richard had gotten up, when the doctor had entered and now stood in front of him with a hopeful look in his eyes. "Do you have news on my wife?"

The doctor smiled at him, but then Luke and Rory entered, and the doctor turned around to look at them.

Luke and Rory moved to stand besides Richard, which left Lorelai in the background complaining about the fact that she wasn't able to see anything.

"Well it looks like the complete family is here," the doctor nodded to all of them. Richard was sure he would kill him if he didn't say something soon.

"I am glad to tell you that the surgery went well. Your wife is stable and started breathing on her own right away. That is always a good sign. She is in the intensive care unit right now, but that is routine after such an operation. I am very positive she will make a full recovery." The doctor smiled as he watched the family's reaction.

It had taken Richard a few seconds to let the meaning of the doctor's words sink in, but when it did, he broke into a broad smile. He hugged a tearful Rory to him as he felt all the pressure of the last hours leaving his body.

Luke had moved and hugged a clearly relieved Lorelai to him.

"Can I see her now?" Richard asked eagerly.

"Of course, I'll have a nurse come and bring you to your wife."

Richard shook the doctor's hand enthusiastically. "Thank you very much."

The doctor simply smiled and then left the room.

Rory was sitting with her mother now and both were smiling brightly. Luke had gotten up again and moved to stand next to Richard.

"I am happy for you, Richard," he offered Richard his hand, but instead of taking it, Richard clapped Luke's back so hard that Luke almost lost his balance.

"Thank you Luke."

The nurse entered and Richard was just about to follow her, when Lorelai held him back.

"Say hi to mum from us," Lorelai smiled a private smile at her father and was glad to see her father smiling back at her.

"I will." With that he turned around and followed the nurse.

* * *

After he had slipped into one of those green robes that were compulsory in the intensive care unit he was finally allowed to see his wife.

She was still very pale as she lay there on the huge bed, attached to all kind of machines, but the doctor's words made the sight bearable.

Richard sat down next to his wife, and gently took her hand in his. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as he gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.

After a few minutes her eyes began to flutter open, and the first sight she saw was her husband's smiling face.

"How are you, my love?" Emily smiled at him in response and was surprised to find his eyes tearing up. She gently put her hand up to his face and patted his cheek lovingly. Richard took her hand and brought it to his lips. He allowed some of his tears to fall freely, before he wiped them away. "You gave me a really big scare, do you know that? Don't ever do that again!"

Emily nodded quietly. Her chest was hurting, and she was trying to find a position that was comfortable. After she had found a more bearable one, she turned to her husband again.

"How is Lorelai?" She needed to know.

Richard smiled at her reassuringly: "She is fine. A mild concussion, nothing serious. She is allowed to go home tomorrow. And you are going to be fine, too. I am supposed to greet you from Rory, Luke and half of Stars Hollow."

Emily raised her eyebrows questioningly, so Richard told her the story of hers and Lorelai's rescue.

"It looks like I owe a big thank you to Luke, doesn't it?" Emily asked after Richard had finished his story.

He nodded. "He is a fine man. He was very worried about Lorelai. We owe him an apology, too," Emily agreed quietly.

For a short moment both fell silent, before Richard took his wife's hand again: "Emily, I owe you an apology as well, but I want to do it properly, not like this," Emily studied her husband's tired face for a few moments, before she started to pat his hand softly.

"I love you, Richard"

Richard gently bent down his head. "I love you too, Emily, more than you'll ever know." With that he kissed her gently.

Shortly after they had broken the kiss, Emily started to cough, so Richard helped her drink some water.

"You should get some sleep, dear," he said and gently put an errant strand of hair out of her face. "But before you do, there is one more thing I have to tell you."

Emily eyed him questioningly.

"Emily Gilmore, I hereby break my promise to you. You are not and will never be allowed to go first," Richard said with a serious face.

"One of us has to go first, Richard," she reminded him and smiled at him gently. She knew how he felt.

"Well then if that is the case, we will go together. We'll decide on a date, and then we will…. I don't know jump of some cliffs."

"You are completely crazy, Richard, I hope you know that," Emily smiled as Richard kissed her hand again.

"Sleep now, love."

It didn't take Emily long to follow her husband's order. Richard continued to sit beside her. He didn't let go of her hand again.

* * *

When Lorelai woke up again, it took her a moment to realize where she was. Her gaze finally fell on Luke, who had fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed. His head rested on her bed, and his baseball cap had fallen onto the floor.

Lorelai watched him sleep for a few seconds. She had told Rory to go to her grandparent's house and get a few hours of sleep there, but when she had told Luke to do the same thing he had given her the look she always gave him when he proposed that she ate something healthy. The look that said "Only over my dead body… and maybe not even then."

Deep down inside she was glad that he hadn't left. She knew that they were far from having solved their problems, but seeing him here, besides her, made her believe that they could do it.

Lorelai was wide awake and she knew what she wanted to do. She tried to slip out of bed, but woke up Luke in the process. His head jerked up and he tried to focus for a few seconds.

"Lorelai, what are you doing?" He got up to help her out of bed.

"I wanted to get up." She answered and allowed Luke to help her into her dressing gown.

"Lorelai, you are supposed to stay in bed. So unless you want to go to the one place where I really don't want to accompany you to, I suggest you lie back down."

"Luke, come on, I am fine. I want to see my mother." Lorelai pouted at him.

"She's probably sleeping, Lorelai. She's been in a long surgery today." He tried to convince her, but knew he had lost the argument before it had even started.

"Yes, and if that is the case I will come back right away and lie down like a good girl." Luke sighed in defeat and Lorelai chuckled softly.

"Alright, but I'll bring you there." He offered her his arm and she took it with a bright smile on her face.

It had taken Lorelai at least five minutes to convince the nurse in the intensive care unit to allow her to see her mother, but after Luke had suggested the nurse should just let her do it, because that would save all of them a lot of time, the nurse had nodded.

Luke sat down in one of the waiting chairs and watched as Lorelai knocked on the door to her mother's room softly, before she entered.

Lorelai was surprised to find her mother awake. Emily had adjusted her bed so that she was almost sitting in bed. When she saw her daughter entering, she smiled at her, but then put a finger to her lips to motion Lorelai to be quiet.

Lorelai smiled, too when she saw her father in the chair next to her mother's bed. His head had fallen onto his chest and he was snoring softly.

Lorelai took herself the other chair and moved to sit besides her mother's bed.

"Hey Mum, looks like you managed to take it out of dad." Lorelai said quietly, but couldn't manage to keep the laughter out of her voice.

Emily's gaze rested on her husband's sleeping form for a few moments, before she looked back at her daughter.

"I suggested he should go home and get a few hours of sleep there, but he downright refused to even think about it."

"I know what you're talking about." Lorelai laughed quietly and when her mother raised her eyebrow questioningly, went on to explain. "Well you know I think I'll just have to live with Luke as my new shadow from now on. The only place I may go to on my own is the bathroom."

Emily smiled at her daughter. She was surprised to find Lorelai suddenly putting a hand on top of hers.

"Mum, how are you? You had us all worried you know." Lorelai asked as she looked at her mother intently. She looked exhausted.

"To be honest, I have been better. It hurts a little." Emily admitted.

Lorelai instantly got up and walked towards the door.

"Lorelai, where are you going?" Emily asked.

"I am going to get a doctor. They have those nice little blue pills you know and they make all the pain go away." She grinned at her mother.

"Lorelai, get back here. I don't need more medication. The pain isn't that bad. Please come back again."

Lorelai followed her mother's order and sat down again. Emily's gaze rested on her daughter's forehead. She was so glad her daughter had fastened her seatbelt. Emily didn't even want to imagine what could have happened otherwise.

"It doesn't hurt, Mum. I am allowed to go home tomorrow." Lorelai said softly. Emily averted her gaze quickly, feeling caught.

"I am just so glad that you are alright." Emily said quietly. Lorelai took her mother's hand again and gave it a gently squeeze.

Both women enjoyed the moment. Emily couldn't remember the last time she had felt so comfortable around her daughter. The feeling of constant tension between them seemed to have vanished and there was a deep understanding between her and her daughter.

Lorelai silently smiled at her mother. Seeing her in the vulnerable state she was in reminded Lorelai rather violently of the fact that her mother wasn't immortal. Fighting seemed so useless now.

Lorelai watched as her mother's gaze wandered over to her father. She was glad when she saw a soft smile playing on her mother's lips as she watched her sleeping husband.

"How are things between the two of you?" Lorelai asked carefully. She knew she was walking on thin ice again, but she felt like she had to ask her mother again.

"I wish I knew." Emily said honestly and looked at her daughter again with an indescribable look on her face.

"He loves you." Lorelai stated simply. She didn't know what else to say. Her father's face said it all. She had never seen someone looking as exhausted as her father did, even in his sleep.

Emily was about to say some more, but before she could do so, she started coughing again violently. Lorelai instantly jumped up from her chair and hurried to get the glass of water that stood on her mother's bedside table.

She gently helped her mother to drink a little, and was relieved when her mother's coughing seemed to subside.

"Lorelai, what is wrong? Did you have a fight?" Richard had awoken from his wife's coughing. He hurried around Emily's bed and came to stand next to his daughter. The concern for his wife was showing clearly in his face.

"No, Dad. Nothing's wrong. She simply started coughing." Lorelai defended herself. Emily nodded and smiled a tired smile at her husband to assure him she was fine.

"I am sorry, Lorelai. The doctor said that could happen." Richard apologized quietly. He walked around the bed and sat down again. He rubbed his eyes with a deep sigh.

"Dad, you should go home and get some sleep." Lorelai said gently. She turned to her mother for support, but was surprised to find her asleep again.

"Now look at that. She isn't the centre of attention for five minutes and falls asleep right away." Lorelai chuckled.

"It's the sedation. She has been drifting in and out of sleep all evening." Richard explained. He got up and pulled up his wife's blanket a little bit. Lorelai watched him with a wistful look on her face.

"Dad, I am serious, you should get some real sleep," Lorelai urged.

"No Lorelai, I am not going to leave her tonight," Richard said and Lorelai knew it was futile to argue with him. She got up and put a hand on her father's shoulder.

"Okay then. I will go down again. I am surprised that Luke hasn't barged in here and dragged me out already," Lorelai said with a smile. "We will stop by again before we leave tomorrow."

Richard brought up his hand and patted Lorelai's hand for a moment.

Without another word Lorelai left the room to find Luke asleep in one of the waiting chairs. She gently put a hand on his cheek and caressed it for a moment. It didn't take Luke long to wake up again.

"Hey there sleepy head." Lorelai said to him with a tender smile on her lips.

"Was your mother awake?" Luke asked and stretched lazily.

"How long have you been sleeping, Mister?" Lorelai asked and slapped his chest playfully. "Yes she was awake. We talked a little, but she fell asleep again. She's still exhausted from the surgery."

Luke had gotten up and Lorelai put her head on his shoulder. He put an arm around her shoulder and led her down the corridor.

"You are still worried, aren't you?" Luke inquired softly.

"Yes I am. I just hope they'll manage to solve their problems." Lorelai answered softly.

Luke simply tightened his hold on her shoulders. He couldn't quite shake off the feeling that Lorelai wasn't talking about her parents alone.

* * *

Hey, you were not going to leave without a review, were you? Thought so ;) Tell me what you think! Thank you! 


	6. Family Ties

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: As always I want to thank all those of you, who reviewed! You are the best and you're the ones keeping me going!

Dedication: For lilienprinzessin again, who else? Thanks for all the great advice and the critique, which is always justified!

**Family Ties**

When Rory returned to the hospital the next morning, she felt refreshed, but not exactly better.

She hadn't wanted to drive to her grandparent's house the night before, but there hadn't been any other options for her. Driving back to Stars Hollow with all the snow and the ice had been out of question, and Luke had already occupied the chair besides her mother's bed. When she had arrived at her grandparent's house she had spent an hour wandering through the large and empty house. She had looked at the picture frames and noticed that she had never done it before. The pictures were different to the ones in her mother's house. These pictures were taken by professionals. The people on them looked either serious or they smiled such broad smiles that Rory instantly noticed they were fake.

There was nothing spontaneous or heartfelt about those pictures. Rory had just put the last picture frame back to the mantelpiece, when something caught her eyes. She pushed the other frames aside and was surprised to find another one, hidden in the back. She wasn't able to see the picture as it lay facedown on the mantelpiece. She carefully picked it up, and the picture she saw made her smile softly.

Rory instantly noticed that it had to be an old picture. The colours had lost their intensity, but the motive was touching.

There was her mother, not older than two or three years old. She was sitting on her father's shoulders, squealing with joy. Richard held his daughter firmly in place, smiling up to her, his pride evident in his eyes. Emily stood next to him, her arm gently wrapped around Richard's waist, smiling at her daughter and husband.

The picture was obviously taken without anyone of them noticing it. They looked so free, so unconcerned, and so very happy.

Rory studied the picture for a long time, and wondered what had happened to destroy this perfect picture. It didn't take her long to find the answer. The time she had spent living at her grandparent's house had made many things understandable, which her mother had told her about. The coldness Emily could show when something didn't work out the way she wanted it to. The disappointment and anger in her grandmother's eyes when Rory had disagreed with her. Rory had felt pushed into a corner, and the only solution she had seen had been the one her mother had chosen years ago. She ran.

But looking at the photograph made Rory remember other things as well. The pride and love in her grandmother's eyes, when she had graduated from Chilton. Her caring voice after Rory had run away from her mother. The panic in her grandmother's eyes when she had found her unconscious husband on the floor at her Christmas party.

Rory put the picture back and went to bed in her own private room, which was still decorated with the N'Sync posters and the Hello Kitty cushions. She noticed that there were fresh sunflowers in her room, and she felt all her guilt returning. She had lain awake in her bed for a long time, before sleep had come.

* * *

Rory entered the hospital slowly, and couldn't help shivering softly when the memories of last night returned. Before she was able to think about it any further, she heard her name being called. She turned around and was surprised to find her mother standing in the hallway. She was completely dressed and the bandage on her head had been replaced by a big plaster. She hurried to her mother, and hugged her tightly. Her mother returned the hug.

"Mum, I thought you were supposed to be released around noon," Rory said with some confusion.

"Yeah well, the doctor stopped by early this morning and said I was as good as new, so Luke and I decided to leave early. I was just about to go outside and call you," Lorelai said and smiled at her only daughter.

"Where is Luke by the way?" Rory asked and looked around.

"He went to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions. I am supposed to take it easy for another day or two. He's going to be back soon, and I wanted to go and see my mother before we left," Lorelai said and studied her daughter carefully. She knew that Rory was afraid of seeing her grandmother again, but Lorelai also knew that it had to happen.

"Uhm, okay, you go. I'll call Logan and tell him to excuse me at Yale. I completely forgot about him last night," Rory said quickly, and turned around. Her mother was faster though, and held her back.

"Okay, Rory. I know what you are trying to do, and I am afraid it's not going to work. You should go and see your grandmother now. Rory you can't ignore her forever. I know that, because I tried," Lorelai said and winked at her daughter with a broad grin on her face.

"Mum, I can't… not now. I am not prepared," Rory stuttered, and tried to get away from her mother.

"There are things you better do unprepared. I'll even buy you a nice large chocolate cake afterwards," Lorelai said, and intensified her grip on her daughter's arm. Bribing her had always worked when she had been younger.

"Mum, I am not five anymore, and I never got that pony you promised me after I had agreed to try and ride a two wheeler and fell flat on my face three times," Rory said, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Lorelai didn't reply to that. She simply put an arm around her daughter's shoulder and pushed her towards the elevators.

Lorelai had helped Rory into her green robe, and now put her arm around her daughter's shoulder again.

"Come on braveheart. Time for the battle," Lorelai said quietly and then opened the door. Her mother was awake and talking to her husband, who was sitting besides her. Both looked up when they saw the door open. Emily's face lit up when she saw her daughter, but her face became serious again, when she noticed the second visitor.

"Look who's here," Lorelai exclaimed and tried to sound extra cheerful to break the ice.

Rory stood next to her mother and couldn't remember the last time she had felt that uncomfortable. All eyes seemed to be resting on her and she lowered her eyes in order to avoid the stares.

"Uhm Dad, I found this amazing coffee machine outside. Maybe you'd like…," Lorelai was nodding into the direction of the door, while talking to her father.

It took Richard a moment to get the hint, but when he did, he quickly got up.

"Yes, a coffee would be wonderful," he said eagerly. He squeezed his wife's hand gently before he hurried to the door.

Rory stared hard at Lorelai. She couldn't believe that her mother had just done that. Lorelai smiled at her daughter encouragingly before she followed her father outside.

It seemed like an eternity to Rory till her grandmother finally addressed her.

"Don't you want to sit down?" Emily asked and tried to sound kind and friendly.

Rory looked up to take a closer look at her grandmother. She noticed the machines around her grandmother's bed and the tired look on her grandmother's face.

"Uh no, standing is just fine," Rory said quietly, and lowered her eyes again. After another moment of silence Rory had finally mustered the courage to look up again.

"How are you?" She asked and knew that it wasn't the most original thing to say. She still needed to know. The happenings of last night had made many things clear for Rory. She couldn't take her grandmother and her mother for granted. Even though they were still young, accidents could happen all the time. She had been terribly afraid that she wouldn't get the chance to talk to her grandmother again and apologize.

"I will be fine," Emily said and fell silent again. She wasn't willed to make it any easier for her granddaughter.

"Grandma, look," Rory began, but stopped again. She silently cursed herself. She had written hundreds of papers in which she had proven her ability to form complete sentences and state her opinion, but right now she felt unable to find a way to express her feelings.

"I am here to apologize," Rory finally said. She looked at her grandmother, and was relieved when her grandmother simply nodded and even smiled at her.

"I shouldn't have the left the way I did," Rory explained quietly and Emily noticed that she didn't apologize for leaving, but simply for the way had done it. She kept quiet though and waited for her granddaughter to continue.

"I know that it was a very ungrateful thing to do, and I whish I had left you a note. It wasn't right of me," Rory said.

"No it wasn't," Emily said and instantly whished she had sounded less annoyed.

"It wouldn't have worked, Grandma, and you know it. You tried to control my life, and that wasn't what I wanted," Rory said and her voice took a defensive tone. She felt pushed into a corner again.

"I didn't try to control you, Rory. I simply did what I thought was best for you," Emily explained.

"I know, but you had no right to do that. It is my life and I know what is good for me and what is not," Rory said with a firm voice. Emily had to smile sadly at that. She had heard all of this before twenty years ago. Lorelai had stood in front of her like Rory did now.

"You sound just like your mother, you know? Whatever you think about yourself right now Rory, you're not grown up yet. You've proven that during the last year. You can consider yourself lucky that you had your mother and your grandfather, who helped you through this," Emily said and fixed her granddaughter with her eyes. Rory stared back at her with hard eyes. She had wanted to apologize, but it seemed as if her grandmother had no interest in making peace with her.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Emily asked in an understanding voice. She smiled as she saw her granddaughter staring at her with angry eyes.

"I do admit that it was partly my fault, though," Emily said when she realized that her granddaughter wasn't going to say anything.

Rory listened closer again at that one. This was probably the first time her grandmother had ever admitted a mistake.

"I wanted to prove that I could be a good mother, and in that way get back at your mother. I wanted to show that I was able to take care of a child, and that I was able to do it the right way. When I noticed that it didn't work I might have overreacted a bit," Emily admitted, even though it wasn't easy for her. She had always lacked the ability to apologize, but had never managed to change it. Her pride had always gotten in the way.

Rory didn't know what to say. Her grandmother's words rang in her ears, and she couldn't stop thinking about them. She really hadn't behaved like a very mature person during the last year and even though she didn't like to admit it, she owed her grandmother a lot.

"I still shouldn't have left that way, and I am sorry. I should have called and I had no right to talk to you the way I did," Rory offered quietly. Emily knew that this was her granddaughter's way of agreeing with what she had said earlier.

"Apology accepted," Emily said and smiled at her granddaughter. She was glad when Rory returned the smile.

* * *

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Richard asked sceptically and looked at his daughter. Lorelai was staring at the plastic coffee cup in her hands. This was the worst coffee she had ever drunken.

"I am sure. They both want it," Lorelai said and smiled at her father. "And if Rory doesn't return in the next ten minutes you may go and check on them," she said and had to smile as she saw her father looking caught. She studied his face for another second, and then put a hand on her father's.

"I know I am sounding like a never ending CD, but you should really go home and sleep, Dad," she urged her father and allowed some of her concern to show in her voice.

"I will, Lorelai. The doctor said that your mother will be transferred to another ward later, and I want to wait till she got her new room. I just want to make sure everything is alright," Richard said and smiled back at his daughter.

"Yes, sure, and then you have to make sure she eats and that she sleeps at night and in the end you won't go home at all. Now I know that sharing a hospital room may sound terribly romantic, but I'd prefer you to stay out of hospital yourself," Lorelai explained quietly.

"Don't worry about me, Lorelai. I am fine, and I promise I will drive home today and spend the night in my own comfortable bed," Richard said and patted his daughter's hand.

"Good boy." Lorelai chuckled softly.

At that moment she saw Rory walking towards them. Rory was smiling at her mother and grandfather.

"How did it go, kid?" Lorelai asked carefully.

"It was good," Rory simply stated and Lorelai didn't ask any further. She knew that Rory would tell her if she wanted to.

"Grandma said she wanted to take a short nap before they'll bring her to her new room," Rory went on to explain.

"Yes, well, I'll go and ask the nurse whether there is anything left to sign or organize," Richard said and got up. He hugged Rory to himself and threw one last smile at Lorelai, before he left.

"You owe me one!" Rory growled at her mother, but Lorelai knew that secretly her daughter was grateful that she had intervened.

"I know you love Mommy," Lorelai said with a broad grin and together they went to find Luke.

* * *

When Luke pulled into her driveway, Lorelai instantly noticed the huge banner hanging over her door. It said "Wellcom home Lorelai" and was obviously done by Davey and Martha, because of the spelling and because there were tiny baby hands printed all over the banner with red colour. Lorelai could vividly imagine what the two children had looked like afterwards.

Lorelai waited till Luke opened the door for her and offered her his arm. Even though she was feeling as good as ever, she enjoyed his attention.

As soon as they had entered the house, Lorelai heard Sookie's squeal of joy. "They're here."

Lorelai jumped behind Luke's back when Babette and Ms. Patty came hurrying towards her.

"Don't let them get me," Lorelai whispered, as she hid behind Luke.

"Luke, get out of the way or we'll hug you, too," Ms. Patty roared, and watched with quite some satisfaction how Luke jumped out of the way. The last thing he saw of Lorelai was her pointing her tongue at him before she disappeared between Ms. Patty's and Babette's voluminous bodies.

"Okay enough you two. Others want to hug her, too," Sookie ordered and as soon as Lorelai appeared again, she drew her into a hug.

"Oh it's so good to have you back," Sookie said and hugged Lorelai even tighter.

"Sookie, it's only been a day!" Lorelai said and couldn't help laughing.

"Yes, but we were worried," Sookie stated and led Lorelai over to the buffet that was build up on the side of her living room. She handed Lorelai a cup of coffee and soon everyone had gathered around them to listen to Lorelai telling the story of her accident.

After the first euphoria had died down, everyone started to mingle.

"Mum?" Rory asked and waited patiently until Lorelai had stopped talking to Lulu and turned her attention to her daughter.

"Yes hon?" Lorelai asked and stared at the small package in Rory's hands.

"I've got something for you," Rory grinned at her mother and showed her the little item.

"A Hello Kitty plaster!" Lorelai squealed, and then bent down to make it easier for Rory to stick it to her forehead.

"I'll just put it over the big one you got in hospital, because I don't think we're allowed to take it off," Rory explained and then put the plaster on her mother's forehead gently.

With a broad grin she exclaimed: "Perfect!"

Lorelai smiled at her daughter and then pulled her into a hug.

"Are you sure everything is alright?" Lorelai asked softly and was glad when her daughter nodded.

"Yes, everything's alright," Rory said and for the first time in the last weeks she felt really good about her life. Even though she knew that her relationship with her grandmother had only just started to heal, she knew they were on the right track. They had even hugged before Rory had left.

"May I borrow her for a while?" Luke asked. He had walked up to them and was now looking at the two women in front of him.

"Sure, take her. I've got to talk to Lane anyway," Rory answered Luke's question and winked at her mother.

"Well stranger, do you want to kidnap me?" Lorelai asked and smiled at Luke flirtatiously.

"Yes, I do. Care to take a walk?" Luke asked and Lorelai noticed that he looked uncomfortable. She put her hand in his and then pulled him outside.

They walked out onto the patio and sat down on the bench. Lorelai pulled her coat around herself and waited for Luke to say whatever he wanted to say.

"Lorelai, I think we should talk about us," Luke began carefully and Lorelai felt a knot building in her stomach.

"You're not trying to break up with me, are you?" She asked fearfully.  
"What? No! No, I am not," Luke was quick to explain and was relived when he saw Lorelai's body relaxing.

"I just wanted to explain why I agreed to postpone the wedding," Luke said and waited for a reaction from Lorelai. When she nodded, he continued: "You know that the news of April's existence has been quite some shock for me. I didn't know what to think or do. I never wanted children until… until I had met you. You've asked me once whether I wanted children and I told you that yes, with the right woman I could imagine having children. That woman was and still is you."

Lorelai felt her eyes tearing up at this, but she kept quiet and continued to listen to Luke.

"And then there was this day that April walked into my diner, and it changed everything. I have a daughter. You have a daughter, too, and you know that I love Rory more than anything, but this is different. I felt like I should put April on top of everything. I haven't seen her growing up like you have seen Rory growing up. Even I have seen Rory growing up and becoming the incredible woman she is today. I just felt like it would be my duty to experience the same thing with April. I don't want to be like Christopher. I want to be a good father and I want my daughter to love me," he looked at Lorelai helplessly, and she put her hand on his hand and squeezed it gently.

"I just thought that I couldn't do both things at a time. Building up a life for me and you and getting to know my daughter. You know, I've never been good at multitasking. I didn't want to risk ruining one of those things, because they are both so very important to me. When you suggested postponing our wedding, I thought it was the perfect solution. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just didn't know what else to do," he finished his speech and looked at Lorelai expectantly.

"I understand Luke, that's why I suggested it in the first place. It still hurt though. I was looking forward to marrying you. This was what I've been waiting for, it felt right for the first time. It just hurt to think that we'd have to wait even more. It hurt to think that there was a part of your life that I wasn't part of. You've known Rory since she's been a small child, you know every person in my family, but I don't know the one person that is so important to you. I know that this isn't you fault and that you need time to get to know her, too, but it's still hard. I guess I was a little jealous as well," Lorelai carefully smiled at Luke, and hoped he understood what she was trying to tell him. He had nodded all through her rambling, and now took her hand in his.

"There's no need to be jealous. You will get to know her. I promise you will get to know her and I hope you'll get along, but I don't really doubt that. You're so great with kids. She could be our flower girl, you know," Luke said and smiled at his fiancé.

"That would be lovely. I could go shopping with her and find a dress for her," Lorelai said eagerly.

"Sure, if she wants to and if Anna agrees. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you, do you like June?" Luke asked and grinned sheepishly when he saw Lorelai's puzzled face.

"Yes, June is a fine month… very sunny," Lorelai said and still didn't know what to think of Luke's question.

"That's good, because I asked Reverend Skinner and there happens to be quite a good chance we could get married in June," Luke said and looked at Lorelai expectantly.

Lorelai stared at him for a few minutes, not sure what to say.

"Are you? When? How? We can't plan a wedding in three months," Lorelai finally exclaimed.

"You planned the whole wedding in one day, so why shouldn't we manage to do it in three months? Sookie will do the food, we can marry at the Inn, and from what Rory told me you already found the perfect dress," he said and smiled at her. Lorelai thought about his words and then threw her arms around him.

"A wedding in June is just perfect! When did you organize all this?" She asked and couldn't believe her luck.

"Last night when you were sleeping," he explained and was glad that she liked the idea.

"Well diner boy, good job," She said and grinned at him.

"I've had some help with realizing what I'd done wrong," Luke said and had to think back to Richard.

"Thank that person, will you?" Lorelai said and then pulled Luke closer to her. They kissed lightly at first, but the kiss soon intensified.

"That's the best second birthday present I ever got," she said after they had broken the kiss and smiled at him tenderly. He returned her smile, and then pointed to the window behind them.

"You'll have to clean that," he remarked dryly and then quickly joined Lorelai's laughter. Kirk's face was pressed against the window as Ms. Patty, Babette, Sookie, Rory and the others were pushing from behind to catch a glimpse of Lorelai and Luke. Ms. Patty was handing tissues around and Kirk put up his thumb.

"Looks like you've done a good job, Danes," Lorelai said between her laughter. She accepted Luke's hand and together they walked back into the house.

* * *

So, that's it for today. For all those of you, who fear that this is going to turn into story that is only focused on LL: There will be a lot of E/R in the next chapter, I promise.

And now, you know the deal: Make me happy and leave a review ;)


	7. Changing and Improving

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Dedication: To the best beta ever! You all know by now, who I am talking about. And to Fritz, Happy birthday to Jutti's first baby!

As always I'd like to thank my incredible reviewers. You have no idea how happy you make me!

**Changing and Improving**

When Lorelai woke up the next morning, she instantly smelled fresh coffee. She slipped out of bed and made her way downstairs. Her nose hadn't deceived her. Luke was standing in the kitchen and made breakfast. When he saw her entering, he smiled at her.

"Good morning, there's coffee for you," he said and shook his head when Lorelai almost jumped for the coffee.

"You know, maybe I should have more car accidents. I feel so special," Lorelai said, grinning at Luke, who had just finished the scrambled eggs and bacon and was handing her a plate.

"Don't you dare, because then I am forced to kill you with my bare hands," Luke said and sat down next to her. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Uhm, I don't know, but I think I might drive to Hartford," Lorelai replied.

"Yes well, I could give you a ride to Hartford," Luke offered. He didn't feel comfortable with her driving there by herself.

"No, Luke, I want to drive on my own. The doctor said I am fine and I don't take any medication that would prohibit driving a vehicle. I need to drive again sooner or later," Lorelai explained even though she wasn't really convinced of the plan herself. Before Luke was able to reply something, the door of Rory's room opened and Rory shuffled out.

"Morning," she greeted her mother and Luke sleepily.

"Morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" Lorelai inquired and handed her daughter a cup of coffee while Luke got up to get her some breakfast.

"Yeah, it was alright," she yawned widely, "I am going to return to Yale today. I missed quite a few classes."

"Yes, I am sure that is the only thing you missed," Lorelai said and winked at her daughter.

"Yes it is," Rory replied, but couldn't help the smile that spread on her face.

"But before you do, please tell your mother that driving to Hartford on her own is a bad idea," Luke joined the conversation as he sat back at the table.

"Mum?" Rory asked and watched with quite some amusement how her mother rolled her eyes is frustration.

"I am a big girl. I know the way to Hartford, and it's not like I hit my head. Oh wait, I did… I'll still manage though," Lorelai stated and shot Luke a glare that threatened him to disagree with her.

"Okay, fine, but take your cell. I expect you to call me every thirty minutes," he said in a firm voice that didn't tolerate any protest.

"But…," Lorelai tried anyway, but was interrupted by Luke immediately.

"Either that or I'll drive," he said and watched with some satisfaction how Lorelai nodded.

Two hours later Lorelai stood in front of her house and studied her Jeep.

"Okay buddy, you know I love you, so be good to mummy," she whispered to it before she unlocked the door and crawled inside.

It took her a moment to find the strength to actually start the car and she already regretted having declined Luke's offer. With shaking legs she managed to slowly reverse her car and get on the road.

Lorelai knew that sooner or later she would have to drive a car again and she knew that the sooner she started trying the sooner it would feel natural again.

The drive to Hartford took her an hour. Shortly after leaving Stars Hollow she had stopped counting the cars that roared past her, obviously annoyed by her slow speed.

When she arrived at the hospital and turned off the car she felt incredibly proud of herself. Driving didn't feel normal yet, but Lorelai knew it would get better soon. She almost jumped out of the car and hurried inside. She asked for her mother's new room number at the information desk and walked there. When she had almost reached it, she remembered that it was expected to bring flowers or chocolates for someone, who was in hospital. She turned around and hurried to the gift store.

After twenty minutes of thinking about what to get her mother she decided on a bunch of spring flowers that looked wonderfully colourful.

When she left the store she almost bumped into her father.

"Whoa, Dad, I am sure I have the right of way," Lorelai said and chuckled softly.

"I am sorry Lorelai, I didn't see you. Were you getting something for your mother?" He inquired and looked at the flowers.

"Uhm yes, but comparing them to your bunch of flowers, mine look rather ridiculous," Lorelai said and stared at the red roses in her father's hands. She couldn't remember ever having seen so many of them.

"Yeah well, the room is horribly plain and she always loved red roses," Richard said and Lorelai couldn't help laughing when she saw her father blushing.

"Where were you coming from?" Lorelai asked and together with her father she started walking towards her mother's room.

"I took your advice and slept at home and I went to the office this morning," Richard said and Lorelai instantly noticed how her father's eyes clouded over at the last part.

"Anything wrong, Dad?" She asked softly.

"It's nothing really. Floyd just can't seem to understand why I am taking a few days off. We have this important meeting with a potential client coming up and I was supposed to organize the whole thing," Richard explained.

"Oh Dad, do you think they could.. uhm fire you?" Lorelai inquired compassionately.

"What? Oh no, they can't do that, not without having to pay a good deal of money to me. I doubt Floyd would take that risk. It's just an unpleasant situation," he explained and then smiled at his daughter. Lorelai smiled back at him.

"One more thing, Lorelai. Don't mention this to your mother, I don't want her to worry," Richard said.

"My lips are sealed," Lorelai said and smiled at her father once more.

Together they entered Emily's room. Emily was on the phone, obviously talking to someone from the DAR. When she noticed her husband and daughter, she smiled at them.

"Yes Margret, the room number is 536. I am looking forward to seeing you and the girls," Emily said and then hung up.

"Busy as always I see," Richard joked. He walked up to Emily's bed and he and his wife shared a short kiss.

"Margret Livingston somehow found out about the accident and you know that the ladies from the DAR always visit members, who are lying in hospital," Emily explained and then focused her attention on the roses in Richard's arms.

"Are those for me?" she asked softly and couldn't tear her eyes away from the flowers. It must be forty or more, she mused.

"No, actually they are for the patient lying next door. A wonderful woman, you should meet her," Richard said and smiled at his wife.

"Oh you!" Emily replied with a soft chuckle, and then took the flowers out of his hands to take in their fresh scent.

"They are wonderful," she said softly and turned to her husband again.

"I am glad you think so, my dear. I'll go and ask the nurse for a vase," he said and smiled tenderly at his wife.

"Uhm Dad, make that two vases," Lorelai said from the back. Her father turned around again and smiled at her.

"Yes, of course. I'll be back in a minute," he said and walked out of the door. Lorelai watched him go before she walked over to her mother's bed and sat down next to it.

"I am afraid my flowers seem rather poor next to Dad's," she said with a smile and showed her mother the bunch of spring flowers.

"They are beautiful Lorelai," Emily said in all honesty and smiled at her only daughter.

"Did Luke drop you off?" she asked next.  
"Uh no, I drove here by myself actually," Lorelai replied and couldn't keep the pride out of her voice.

"Lorelai! That was a foolish thing to do. You've only just been released from hospital," Emily exclaimed in a shocked voice.

"Mum, not you too! I am fine. I needed to do it, or else I might never have gotten behind the steering wheel again," Lorelai explained in a desperate voice. Emily studied her daughter for moment, before she sighed.

"Yes, I understand what you are talking about. It takes some time after a car accident till you enjoy driving a car again," Emily said and thought back to her first car accident that had ended in the total wreckage of her first own car. Miraculously she had escaped without so much as a scratch.

Richard entered again, carrying three vases.

"I am afraid we'll have to split up the roses. They don't have big enough vases here," he said and put the vases onto Emily's bedside table. He took the roses out of Emily's hands again and started to put them into the two vases. Lorelai had gotten up and put her flowers into the third vase. When they were done, they showed the result to Emily.

"Very good, you two," Emily praised them and couldn't help laughing.

"I don't think she appreciates our work very much," Lorelai whispered and bend to her father conspiratorially.

"Yes, but luckily enough she can't fire us," Richard whispered back and both broke into laughter.

"It's not nice to tease someone, who is in hospital," Emily said and tried to sound miffed.

"Of course not, my dear," Richard concurred and walked around her bed again to sit down next to her. Chivalrous he took her hand and placed a soft kiss on top of it.

"I am sure the producers of The Bold and the Beautiful would pay good money to be able to use such a scene," Lorelai said and grinned at her parents. Emily looked at her husband and together they shook their heads in defeat. Before either of the three was able to say anything else, there was a short knock on the door and a whole group of doctors entered.

Lorelai loved watching doctors when they did their round. There was the medical director walking in the front, looking determined and so very intelligent. He was followed by his assistants, who looked slightly less superior than their boss, and in the back there were the interns, who always looked as if they were desperately trying to memorize everything the medical director said.

"Well, how are we today?" The grey haired medical director asked, while studying his notes.

"I am fine, thanks for asking," Lorelai replied cheerfully, but was instantly met by a death glare from her mother.

"What? He asked how we were…," Lorelai defended herself and Emily knew that her daughter was enjoying herself. She simply raised her eyebrows, and ignored the grin that was beginning to spread on her daughter's face.

"I beg your pardon?" The doctor asked and turned to one of his assistants with a confused look on his face.

"Ignore her, Dr. Johanson," Emily explained quickly and smiled at the doctor. "I am fine."

"Well, well, I see the surgery went well, any problems?" the doctor was looking at Emily.

"No, it still hurts, but I think that's normal," Emily said and the doctor simply nodded.

"Any questions Mrs. Gilmore?" Dr. Johanson asked.

"I'd like to know when I'll be allowed to go home again," Emily said with a hopeful voice. She hated nothing more than hospitals.

"You suffered quite severe injuries during the accident, and it will take some time till the rib starts mending. You will have to get used to the idea of spending a good two weeks here, I am afraid," the doctor explained and smiled at Emily sympathetically.

Emily's face had fallen briefly upon hearing the doctor's words, but it took her only a second to regain her composure.

"It is very important that you start getting out of bed and walking. We don't want you to suffer from thrombosis as well. It is vital that you get up, even though it might hurt at first. I'll send you a nurse to show you how to get up the best way," Dr. Johanson told Emily and all Emily could do was nod.

"Well then, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call for a nurse. I'll come by to look after you in the afternoon," the medical director explained and flashed one last encouraging smile at Emily before he and his retinue left the room again.

Richard had watched Emily intently and now put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently.

"Two weeks isn't a long time. Try to see it as a vacation. No dinners to plan, no functions to attend," Richard said and tried to sound cheerful.

"Yes, wonderful vacation," Emily snorted. Two weeks were a long time when all you were able to do was watching the plain white wall in front of you.

"I will come and visit you every day," Richard said and pressed a light kiss on the side of her head.

"Uh yeah, and Rory and I will stop by as often as we can. We can play funny games," Lorelai said and tried to support her father.

"Yes well, there's nothing I can do about it," Emily said and sighed heavily, but then she decided to get her act back together again. It wasn't fair to take her frustration out on her husband and her daughter, who were obviously trying very hard to make the whole situation easier for her.

"I guess a vacation could be nice," Emily said and smiled at her little family. "Lorelai, do you know how to play bridge?" she inquired next.

"No, but you could show me how to play," Lorelai said and couldn't quite believe that she had just agreed to spend even more time with her mother.

"You know," Richard suddenly said and both women turned to look at him, "if I had known that you were going to stay here for two weeks, I would have bought a single rose each day… and not fifty at once. This stay in hospital of yours is going to cost me a fortune!" he sighed dramatically, but smiled when Emily slapped his arm playfully.

There was a knock on the door and the three of them watched a young nurse entering.

"Good morning, Mrs. Gilmore. Dr. Johanson sends me to show you how to get out of bed," she said cheerfully.

"I think that's my cue for leaving," Lorelai said and got up. "I'll try to stop by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," she told her mother, and squeezed her mother's hand before she turned to leave. "Goodbye Dad, call me when you need anything," Lorelai offered before she had reached the door and when her father nodded she stepped out.

"Do you want me to leave the room as well?" Richard asked carefully, but the look in Emily's eyes answered his question even before she did. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Please stay," she pleaded, and Richard smiled at her encouragingly.

"Of course I'll stay," he said softly.

"Mr. Gilmore, I need you to move a little, because I have to stand there," the nurse instructed Richard and he quickly moved out of the nurse's way.

"Okay Mrs. Gilmore, I'll show you the best way to get out of bed, which makes the pain bearable. It is very important that you don't try to get up on your own. If your husband has watched a few times it will be alright for him to help you, but don't do it on your own. You could fall and hurt yourself.

It could be awkward and painful at first, but it will get better. You have to tell me when the pain gets too bad, and you also have to tell me when you start feeling faint," the nurse explained and smiled at Emily. Emily nodded to show the nurse that she had understood all the things the nurse had told her. She was nervous about getting up. She wasn't used to accepting help and she wasn't used to not being able to get up on her own.

"I need you to very carefully roll onto your side now, Mrs. Gilmore," the nurse instructed Emily and then helped her to accomplish the task. Emily turned with the outmost care, afraid of the possible pain that was to come. To her amazement rolling to the side wasn't a big problem, and she smiled at the nurse.

"Very good Mrs. Gilmore. Now try to swing your right leg over the edge of the bed," the nurse told Emily in a very calm voice.

Emily obeyed the nurse's order and tried to move her legs, but the movement caused a sudden pain in her chest that made her wince briefly. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt that humiliated. She wasn't even able to get up any more. She needed help with everything. When she looked up she saw Richard standing behind the nurse. He was smiling at her, but she could see the worry in his eyes. Taking all her strength she managed to swing both legs over the edge of the bed and together with the nurse's help she managed to sit up. It took her a moment to catch her breath, and the nurse waited patiently for Emily to be ready to get up.

"You're doing very well, Mrs. Gilmore. Standing might be hard for you at first, but don't worry, that happens to all the patients, who had a long surgery, no matter how old they are," the nurse explained and Emily couldn't help but feel grateful for the nurse's calm and friendly voice. When she was ready to try to get up she nodded at the nurse.

The nurse took Emily's left hand and put her other hand under Emily's left elbow and then started to carefully and slowly pull Emily up.

When Emily was finally standing, she felt sick to the bone. Her legs were shaking and she felt like fainting.

"Mr. Gilmore, would you like to support your wife?" the nurse asked and Richard instantly hurried to his wife's side.

"Here, take her elbow and her hand. Make sure you have a steady grip on her, in case she falls," the nurse instructed and then smiled at him. Richard followed her advice and did what she had told him.

Emily was glad when Richard took her arm, and she once again realized how safe she felt around him.

"Are you alright?" he asked and his concern for her showed clearly in his voice.

"I don't know," Emily replied in all honesty. Her circulation seemed to have stabilized, but she still felt weak.

"Mrs. Gilmore, you don't have to start running around immediately. A few steps will do for today. Maybe you'd like to look out of the window," the nurse suggested and Emily nodded.

Richard began leading her towards the window as slowly and carefully as he could and every few steps they stopped so that Emily was able to catch her breath.

When they reached the window, Emily was proud of herself. She still felt like fainting, but it was a step into the right direction. She tried her best to smile at Richard, and drew strength from the supportive look on his face.

"Do you want to lie back down?" Richard asked softly, and again Emily simply nodded. With Richard's and the nurse's help she lay down in her bed again.

"You did very well, Mrs. Gilmore, you can be proud of yourself. You should rest now. If you need anything, just press the button and I will come to help you," the nurse said and smiled at Emily and Richard one last time before she left the room again.

As soon as she was outside, Richard took Emily's hand in his and smiled at his wife.

"I am very proud of you Emily. Are you sure you are alright?" he studied her face intently. She looked even more tired and exhausted than before and she was extremely pale.

"Yes, I am. I love you, Richard," she said tenderly and smiled at her husband again. It was her way of saying thank you.

"You would do the same thing for me. Although it might prove difficult for you to catch me if I fell," Richard chuckled softly, but then realized that his wife had fallen asleep again. He put an errant strand of hair out of her face and was content to watch her sleep, like he had done numerous times during the last days.

The chapter was planned differently, but then I was so caught up in writing that I couldn't stop. I hope you liked it and if you did (you know the drill), leave a review…


	8. Drama queens

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: Sorry it took so long, but I have to write two term papers, and this really keeps me busy. Not that I actually started writing them yet….

I want to thank all those of you, who reviewed again. You keep me going, and I could hug you all for your frequent reviews!

**Drama queens **

Emily studied herself in her hand mirror and was satisfied with what she saw. She still had to apply more makeup than she usually would, but it served its purpose and made her look like her old self again. Today the two weeks were up and she would be allowed to go home again. She wanted to look good for that. She had even managed to get her hair looking almost as good as it usually would. She hadn't trusted the hospital hairdresser, and was looking forward to go to her own entrusted hair stylist again.

Emily put down the mirror and surveyed her room. It looked like a flower shop. Emily had to smile softly. Although she had done nothing else, but whish for the last two weeks to pass, she had enjoyed the attention she had gotten. All her friends had stopped by and those, who couldn't come personally, send large flower arrangements that smelled heavenly, instead.

The only thing she was waiting for was Dr. Johanson to come by and check on her one final time. He had been away over the weekend, and his colleagues had told her to wait for him. She did so happily. She knew that she would have to take it easy at first, and do rehabilitation for a while, but she couldn't care less. The prospect of sleeping in her own bed again without a nurse storming into her room at six o'clock in the morning to check her temperature, was wonderful enough. She would be able to get up without anyone hurrying after her. Emily hated nothing more than having her private sphere taken away from her, and there was definitely no private sphere in hospitals.

Even though she was looking forward to being released from hospital, it scared her as well. The last two weeks had been a time of peace and quiet for her. Richard had been amazing. He had stopped by as often as he could and at times Emily was wondering whether he was working at all. Lorelai had kept her promise, and together with Rory she had visited as often as she had been able to. She hadn't even complained about the fact that she lost every single bridge game, although Emily knew her daughter hated losing.

Her family had been there for her when she had needed them, and Emily was very grateful for that, but there were things that still had to be discussed. Lorelai had brought Luke along once or twice, but they had generally tried to avoid talking about him. Neither Lorelai, nor she wanted to start fighting again.

Emily knew that Richard's unshared attention for her would end as soon as she was home again and doing better, and she knew that she still had to discuss a few things with him as well.

Before Emily was able to think about those things any further, her door opened and she knew it had to be Richard right away. No one else would dare to enter her room without knocking first.

"Hello Emily," he greeted her with a smile. He walked over to her bed, and pressed a light kiss on her lips.

"Hello, dear," she replied and smiled at him as he sat down next to her.

"I see you're all ready to go," he said and grinned at her. He playfully touched her hair.

"Yes, well," Emily murmured and lowered her eyes. She hadn't wanted it to be that obvious.

"You look beautiful," Richard assured her softly.

"Thank you," Emily replied and couldn't help smiling at her husband again. This was just perfect. There was a soft knock and Emily looked up to see her daughter and her fiancé enter.

"Lorelai? What are you doing here?" Emily asked in surprise.

"Luke wanted to come and visit you," she explained and drew Luke, who looked clearly uncomfortable, closer to her. "I told him to wait till you're home, but he insisted on coming right away," Lorelai went on and grinned at her mother.

"Well, how nice of you, Luke," Emily played along and actually enjoyed teasing Luke.

"Yes, well….. How are you?" Luke asked somewhat helplessly.

"I am fine, thank you Luke," Emily replied simply. She just couldn't help herself, but something inside of her rebelled against the thought of this being her future son-in-law.

"So, it's your big day, huh?" Lorelai asked and walked closer to her mother's bed, Luke staying close to her.

"Yes, all I have to do now is wait for Dr. Johanson to let me go," Emily replied and smiled at her daughter. As if the doctor had heard this, there was a short knock on the door, and the medical director entered.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Gilmore. I see everyone is here," he said and nodded curtly at Richard and Lorelai and Luke.

"Yes, almost," Emily replied and looked at the doctor with expectant eyes.

"Well Mrs. Gilmore, I looked at your recent test results and talked to my colleagues and we came to the conclusion that it would be better if you stayed in hospital for another week," the doctor explained slowly. He knew that this wasn't the news his patient had hoped for.

"I beg your pardon?" Emily asked and her voice was cold as ice. She felt Richard taking her hand, but her eyes rested on the doctor in front of her.

"I know that this isn't what you were hoping to hear, but we really think that your condition isn't stable enough to leave hospital yet. You still have trouble getting up and walking is very strenuous for you. The recent tests of your lung capacity show that it is far from normal yet. The risk of you fainting at home and hurting yourself is too high," the doctor continued in a calm and understanding voice, which didn't help to calm Emily down though.

"But you told me that I would be allowed to return home after two weeks," Emily said and her voice reached a dangerously low level.

"I merely gave you a prognosis. The time of convalescence is different form patient to patient. All I know is that given the current situation I am against releasing you," the doctor replied patiently. Emily stared at him with the best death glare she could muster, but before she was able to say something else, Richard spoke up.

"Thank you Dr. Johanson. We'll talk about it," Richard said and looked at the doctor intently. The medical director got the hint and with a last apologizing smile he left the room.

"Emily, look, another week isn't the end of the world. It will be over sooner than you think," Richard said, trying to sooth his wife.

"Yes, you can say that. You don't have to stay here," Emily spat. She was more than disappointed.

Lorelai looked at Luke with an apprehensive look on her face and nodded towards the door. Luke instantly understood what Lorelai was getting at, and started walking towards the door slowly. He didn't want to catch Emily's or Richard's attention.

"Emily, please try to be rational. If the doctor thinks you are not ready to go home than we will listen to him," Richard stated firmly. He was looking at his wife, and his expression showed that he wouldn't tolerate any protest, but Emily was not about to give in that easily.

"I am fine, Richard. I won't get any better than I am now. I want to go home!" Emily exclaimed and returned her husbands stare.

"Emily, you sound like a small child," Richard said and he sounded clearly unnerved. He had gotten up and was pacing in front of Emily's bed. Emily stared at her husband with cold eyes. This was exactly the kind of behaviour that had made her so angry in the past weeks. He behaved towards her in this superior manner that made her hair stand on end.

"Thank you very much," Emily said coldly, and Richard knew he had lost. She had that look on her face that showed him that she was ready to argue with him come what may.

Lorelai and Luke were carefully inching towards the door. Both knew that the situation was explosive at least.

"Emily, do you know how lucky you were? You could have died in that accident," Richard tried again. He was walking towards the window to keep himself busy and calm.

"Could have, should have," Emily murmured angrily. She heard a soft gasp from her daughter and instantly realized that she shouldn't have said that. She knew that she had gone too far now, but her hurt pride kept her from taking her last words back.

Lorelai had stopped walking suddenly, which made Luke almost bumping into her. She turned around to look at her father, who still had his back turned to them.

Luke looked at the door yearningly, they had gotten so close to get out of danger.

Richard turned around slowly and Emily had a hard time keeping her composure as her husband's eyes came to rest on her. She couldn't remember the last time Richard had looked that furious.

"Of all the stupid things you've ever said in your life, those were by far the most stupid ones," Richard said coldly. He didn't wait for Emily to reply to that, but turned around and stormed out of the room.

Lorelai pulled Luke out of her father's way. It took her only a second to decide on what to do. She hurried after her father, which left Luke standing in the middle of Emily's room looking rather lost. He had his back turned to Emily, and was trying to think of what to do. It was too late to run after Lorelai now.

Luke turned around slowly, and wasn't surprised by the picture that met him. Emily was staring at him with hard and cold eyes.

"Uhm, are you alright?" Luke asked carefully. He wanted to make sure that Emily wasn't going to suffer some sort of attack.

"I am fine," Emily replied, trying to keep as much dignity as she could. She continued to stare at Luke, who was starting to squirm.

"Okay, I guess I'll just… ," he pointed towards the door and then quickly exited the room, before he became the next object of Emily's anger.

Lorelai had a hard time catching up with her father.

"Dad!" she called out, but wasn't surprised that he didn't stop. She continued to run after him, and after she had finally reached him, put an arm on his shoulder.

"Nice display of the condition you're in," Lorelai panted, trying to catch her breath. "It wasn't fair though, you know. I am wearing high heels, and you don't. We'll have to repeat this race under fair conditions," she said and smiled at her father.

"Lorelai, I am not in the mood for this," Richard said simply, and stared down on his daughter.

"Dad, listen, she was angry, she didn't think. I am sure she didn't mean those words," Lorelai tried to defend her mother.

"She didn't think alright. She had no right to say those things she did," Richard said forcefully. Lorelai flinched, when she heard the tone in her father's voice.

"Dad, please, maybe you could talk to her again. Without me and Luke there," Lorelai tried again, even though she knew it was futile.

"No Lorelai, I can't. Not now. I almost lost my self- control in there," Richard explained quietly and lowered his eyes. Lorelai gently put an arm on her father's shoulder and patted it.

"Well, alright. Just don't do anything stupid, Gilmore," Lorelai said and tried to sound light hearted.

Richard nodded, and then turned around and walked towards the exit. Lorelai watched her father go, and then turned around purposefully.

She had never seen her parents like this before. One thing about her parents Lorelai had always admired was the fact that they always acted as a unit. It had never happened that one would disagree with the other one in front of others. Not even in front of her. It had driven Lorelai mad as a child that whatever her father or mother would say to her, the other one would agree right away. They might have discussed it later on, when she wasn't there, but she had never witnessed it.

Later on Lorelai came to admire that ability of her parents. They never fought in public, and they would never embarrass the other one in front of others. The only exception had been their time of separation, but even then they had manages to keep their fights private or in the family.

When she reached her mother's room again, she found Luke standing in front of it.

"Don't ever do that again," he said with a horrified look on his face. Lorelai wanted to ask what he meant, but then remembered that she had left him in the lion's den.

"Uh Luke, I am so sorry. Did she bite you?" Lorelai asked and smiled at him.

"No, but it wasn't very pleasant. I asked her whether she was alright, but she looked like she was trying to kill me with her eyes, so I left," he explained. Lorelai just nodded and then turned towards her mother's room.

"Lorelai, what are you going to do?" Luke asked. He held her back by her arm.

"Luke, I need to talk to her. Someone has to talk some sense into her," Lorelai explained firmly. Luke lifted his eyebrows questioningly.

"Are you sure? She isn't in the best mood, you know," Luke warned her. He knew how much her new found relationship with her mother meant to Lorelai.

"Yes I am sure. Someone has got to do this," Lorelai said, and with a last smile at him, she knocked on her mother's door and entered.

Emily looked up in surprise, but when she saw who it was, the lines on her face hardened again.

"Lorelai, I don't want to discuss this with you right now," Emily said with a firm voice.

"Yes I know, but this time you are not able to leave the room and end the discussion, so you'll have no choice, but to listen to me," Lorelai stated and returned her mother's stare. She was not going to give in.

"He had no right to talk to me like that," Emily said defensively. She was still tending to her hurt pride.

"Mum, you had no right to say those things, and you know it. If you left your hurt pride aside, you would actually be able to realize that," Lorelai retorted. She wasn't going to make this easy for her mother.

"I won't accept this kind of behaviour towards me," Emily hissed and narrowed her eyes.

"Well, I don't think you have a choice. This time you managed to behave _highly inappropriate_," Lorelai said in a mocking voice.

"Lorelai, you will stop this right now," Emily said warningly.

"No, mother, I won't, because you have to listen to some things, whether you like it or not," Lorelai started and then held up her hand when Emily was going to interrupt her.

"Do you have an idea what it was like for Dad in the last weeks? Well, of course you don't, because he didn't want to worry you," Lorelai continued.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked suspiciously.

"Floyd Stiles has made the past weeks hell for Dad. There was this important conference Dad didn't take part in, because he chose to be at your side. He has a really hard time in the company right now, because he did everything to help you," Lorelai explained. She had started pacing in front of her mother's bed. Emily watched her daughter quietly. She remembered Richard having said something about a conference before the accident, but it had slipped her mind afterwards.

"Uh and the day of the accident. I know that you weren't able to see it, because you were busy elsewhere, but I was there, and Luke was there. We all saw how much Dad suffered, how afraid he was to lose you," Lorelai was talking faster and faster as she continued her rant.

"I know that you have or had your problems, but he did and risked everything for you in those past weeks, and he definitely didn't deserve this kind of behaviour from you," Lorelai finished, but before Emily was able to reply something, Lorelai remembered something else.

"Uh and while we're at it. Would it kill you to be nicer to Luke? He just wanted to make sure you were okay. You may think I didn't realize that we were avoiding talking about him, but I did. You'll have to learn to deal with him, because we are going to get married. I didn't tell you before, because I didn't want to start fighting, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore now. We've set a date. We're going to get married in June, whether you like it or not," Lorelai exclaimed and then stopped to catch her breath. This wasn't how she had planned the talk with her mother to go, but as always her temperament had gotten better of her. Her mother was still silent, and Lorelai wasn't entirely sure whether this was a good thing.

"Are you done?" Emily asked coldly, and continued to stare at her daughter. As always when she was attacked, she dug her heels.

"Is that all you have to say?" Lorelai asked incredulously. She had expected some sort of reaction from her mother, but this was even worse than Emily's screaming.

"What do you expect me to say, Lorelai? You barge in here, and attack me, even though none of this is your business," Emily stated simply. Lorelai gaped at her mother.

"Great, so you barging into my life is fine, but me telling you something is not okay?" Lorelai asked, and noticed how she began to lose her temper again.

"I am your mother, Lorelai," Emily replied. Lorelai waited for some further explanation, but when none came, she started laughing sadly.

"Well, you know what the sad thing about this is? I knew this was going to happen. I knew that this harmony wouldn't last, but I so wished it would. I really did. Well, I guess it's not supposed to be," Lorelai finished sadly, and for the first time, Emily began to think about her daughter's words.

Before Emily was able to say something though, Lorelai turned around and left her room.

Luke instantly noticed the sad and disappointed look on Lorelai's face, and put an arm around her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked carefully.

"No, but I should have known it," Lorelai replied quietly, and Luke knew better than to question her any further. He could imagine vividly what had happened in Emily's room.

"The good thing is, that we'll save the money for the gas from now on, because we won't be driving to Hartford anymore," Lorelai said, and then put her head on Luke's shoulder. He quietly started walking her towards the exit, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly.

* * *

I know that many people were really unhappy with the last chapter, and I hope you liked this one better. One way or the other, let me know. Make the author (me) happy, and leave a review. Thank you! 


	9. Freud's and Shakespeare's joy

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: I know I am a bad, bad girl, and I am really sorry for not updating faster, I really am. I have tons of excuses of course, but let's just sum them up under "life".

Then I want to thank each and everyone of you for reviewing! I reached 100 reviews, that's a first for me and I am very excited ;)

Dedication: This is a very belated birthday present for my beta ;) Thanks for all the great ideas and advice!

And now on with the story:

**Freud's and Shakespeare's joy**

Emily lay in her bed motionless, staring after her daughter. Her mind was reeling. Her first reaction to her daughter's and her husband's words had been pure anger, but as always somewhere in her mind there was this quiet voice that reminded her of the fact that she was to blame in large parts for what had happened.

She had tried to ignore that voice at first after her daughter had stormed out of her room, and went on cursing her family. She even went so far as to whish for a relapse in her condition so that Richard and Lorelai would feel guilty, but she quickly buried those thoughts again. She felt guilty and childish for even having had such thoughts. Maybe Richard was right, and she was behaving like a small child…

Richard still shouldn't have attacked her the way he had and Lorelai should have known better than to force her to talk so soon after the fight with her husband.

Nevertheless Lorelai's last words rang in her head, and slowly but surely the others registered as well. Richard had risked everything to be with her? The more Emily thought about what had happened the more embarrassed she became. She had clearly overreacted and the proper procedure would be to call her husband and her daughterto apologize, but Emily figured that Richard would show up again soon, and Lorelai would need some time to cool off herself.

When Richard still hadn't returned two hours later, Emily began to get restless. She finally swallowed her pride and picked up the phone to call their house. To her great disappointment it was the maid who answered. She informed Emily that Richard hadn't returned yet, and Emily was left to hang up. It slowly started to darken outside and Emily began to wonder whether she really had gone too far this time.

* * *

Lorelai hadn't spoken much with Luke on the drive back to Stars Hollow and was glad when he didn't ask any questions. He informed her that he would have to get back to the diner, but that they could meet later, and she had agreed happily.

She was grateful for the time she could spend alone, thinking about the recent fight with her mother. Lorelai cursed herself for honestly believing that things were able to change between them. It had been so nice to get along with her, even though in the back of her mind Lorelai had known that the harmony couldn't last. They had been tip toeing around the topic of Luke, but Lorelai had been happy to play along. The hours she had spent in the car with her mother had made her appear more human, and caring than she had ever been before. Lorelai still remembered the fear of losing her mother, but those feelings of love and closeness were wiped away by her mother's recent outburst.

Lorelai knew that she shouldn't have tried to talk to her mother, since her mother had never been one to react well to criticism. She still remembered numerous times in her childhood where she had criticised her motherand as a result of that had spent the rest of the afternoon in her bedroom. Her mother had never been able to admit her faults, at least not openly. Lorelai had known her mother long enough to know that Emily did things differently. She wouldn't apologize or agree, she would buy things… or she would have the cook make Lorelai's favourite dishes for dinner. This was how Emily Gilmore showed that she was sorry. All through her childhood Lorelai had noticed those things, but the only thing she had really wanted to hear from her mother had been a simple I am sorry´. To hear those words out of her mother's mouth had been everything young Lorelai had longed for, since she herself had had to say them to her mother numerous times, but her whish had never been fulfilled. Admitting that she had been wrong would have meant weakness, and a parent didn't show weakness. At least that was what Emily thought and as far as Lorelai knew that could have been what her mother had taught young Emily.

Back then Lorelai had sworn to herself that she would do that differently with her daughter. And somewhere in the back of her mind, she had never given up hope that one day her mother would be able to change as well.

Lorelai sighed in frustration. She wasn't seven anymore, and she didn't like being treated that way. After the accident she had hoped that her mother and shewould finally be able to build up a relationship that wasn't based on the unhappy memories of Lorelai's childhood.Realizing that that wasn't possible was hard for Lorelai.

She lay down on the couch and tried to digest what she was feeling. Angry? Disappointed? Mad as hell? She wasn't sure. She sighed heavily, and the sigh turned into a groan when the telephone started to ring.

Lorelai slowly got up and answered it, but started smiling when she recognized the voice on the other end.

"Hey mum, I am writing my paper right now and need a break," Rory greeted her mother.

"Hey kid, nice to hear from you. What kind of paper?" Lorelai inquired. She lay back down on the couch and was glad for the interruption of her dark thoughts.

"I have to apply feminine theories to that book I have read, and I am stuck somehow. So what's new with you? How's grandma? Didn't you go and visit her today?" Rory asked cheerfully.

"Yes we went, and let's just say that Shakespeare would have had a lot of fun with us," Lorelai replied quietly.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked back.

"My mother decided to put up a fight with everything that had two legs and was able to form complete sentences," Lorelai explained and couldn't help sighing heavily again.

"What happened? She was fine the last time I saw her," Rory said and got up from her desk to lie on her bed. She somehow got the idea that this phone call was going to take longer. She listened patiently as her mother told her everything that had happened earlier.

"Whoa… This sure sounds like grandma, though," Rory concluded after her mother had stopped talking. "Poor grandpa!"

"Poor grandpa! Have you listened to me?" Lorelai asked in a mock upset voice.

"Poor Mum, of course," Rory added quickly and then laughed softly. "But what the hell got into you to walk back into grandma's room?"

"I whish I knew. Luke was right there, warning me about it, but do I listen? No, of course I don't," Lorelai explained and growled again.

"How do you feel now?" Rory asked sympathetically.

"I don't know. What scares me most is that part of me understands why she reacted the way she did," Lorelai said.

"Now that's a first," Rory exclaimed and couldn't help chuckling. When her mother didn't go on to explain what she had meant, Rory continued. "What do you want to do now?" she asked carefully.

"I am definitely not going back to apologize. I still think that she needed to hear all those things. Especially the ones about Luke," Lorelai stated firmly.

"Yes, well, I think you're right, but does that mean that you'll end the relationship again?" Rory implored.

"It means that I won't call her until she has apologized to me… and Luke, while we're at it," Lorelai said.

"How quick do you think hell is going to freeze over?" Rory asked sheepishly.

"My witty daughter, what would I do without you?" Lorelai replied and chuckled softly, even though she didn't feel like laughing. "I just can't understand why she won't accept Luke. After everything she's been through with gran, she should be the one to welcome Luke into the family," Lorelai stated.

"Yes well, Luke isn't from her world and that's probably why she won't accept him," Rory explained.

"Yeah, because the fact that he makes me happy doesn't count," Lorelai replied angrily.

"That's not what I meant, Mum. All your life you've been rebelling against your mother and I think in a way grandma hoped that at least when itcomesto marrying, you would choose her world. If you had found a man from her world you loved, you would both have been happy. With Luke things are different though. He's from our world, and grandma has no chance to get a firm place in your life when you marry him," Rory went on to explain. Lorelai had listened in awe and was momentarily rendered speechless.

"Mum? Are you still there?" Rory asked carefully.

"You're still majoring in journalism, aren't you? Have I missed something or did you sneak into some psychology lectures?" Lorelai asked after a few minutesof thinking about Rory's words.

"I am still your intelligent journalist- becoming daughter. This is just part of the stuff I have to do for my paper. Did you know that your conflict with your mother is quite prominent in theory?" Rory asked in an eager voice.

"No, I didn't, but thanks for sharing. So, Freud, what do I do now?" Lorelai asked.

"I am afraid that the theorists have been unable to come up with the perfect solution so far. I think you should sleep it over for one night. That would give both ofyou the time to think about everything and cool off a little. We could talk again in the morning, and if you still feel the same way, we can think of something" Rory suggested.

"We pay thousands of dollars each year for your studies and the only thing they teach you is problems without solutions! I could do that, too," Lorelai exclaimed in a teasing voice.

"Mum," Rory simply replied.

"Tomorrow will be fine, hon," Lorelai agreed. When they had hung up Lorelai continued to lie on the couch. Staring at the ceiling soothed Lorelai's mind and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

When Emily woke up again, it took her a few moments to remember where she was. When she looked over to her window, she almost cried out in surprise. It was completely dark now, but the almost full moon illuminated the room. The silhouette standing at the window had startled Emily, but she hadsoon realized that it was Richard, who was standing there. He had his arms folded behind his back and was looking out of the window.

Emily watched him for a few minutes. The realization that he had come back, made her smile softly. Suddenly she knew what she wanted to do. Ever since she had been admitted to hospital she had felt the strange wishto hug her husband. Have him wrap his big arms around her, and press her to himself. Her whish hadn't been fulfilled yet, as she had either been lying inbed or she had been in pain.

She quietly started to push her blanket away, and tried to slip out of bed as quietly as she could. When she tried to swing her legs over the edge of the bed, her hand hit the nightstand, and the sound made Richard turn around.

"Emily!" he called out and hurried to her side. "Let me help you," he wanted to offer her his hand, but she declined. She had wanted to surprise him with getting up, but that possibility had passed now. She lay back in her bed with a sigh.

"It's alright, Richard, I don't need to get up," she said quietly and watched as Richard sat down in the chair next to her bed. She was grateful that he hadn't turned on the light yet. She felt more comfortable in the dark. With the moonlight she was still able to see her husband's face. Over the past hours in which she had been waiting for him to return, she had thought of a thousand things she wanted to tell him, but now that he was sitting next to her, she suddenly lacked the courage to start talking.

Richard studied his wife quietly and wondered what was going on in her head. He was unsure of what to expect. With Emily he somehow never knew what was going to happen and that was part of why he loved her as much as he did. She could still be mad, though he doubted that. When she didn't seem to want to talk to him, he spoke up, only to have Emily do the same thing at exactly the same moment.

"May I?" Richard asked carefully, after both had stopped talking again, realizing that the other wanted to say something. Emily nodded quietly, part of her was relieved that Richard would say something first, so that she was able to respond to that, but the other part was anxious as to what to expect.

"Emily, I know that I have once more been a lousy husband during the past weeks. I wasn't there to support you when I should have. It was my idea to work against Lorelai, and yet it was you, who had to suffer the consequences. That wasn't fair, and I apologize for that. I should have listened to you. I am sorry that you thought that I considered your life to be frivolous and meaningless, that was not my intention. I never meant to hurt you Emily, but I did, and I am very very sorry for that. I know I promised you to change when we renewed our vows, and I failed miserably, but I am willing to try again- harder this time," he broke off and looked at her with an insecure smile on his lips. She simply nodded, touched by his words. She wanted to take his hand, but sensed that he wasn't done yet.

"The things you said today hurt very much, Emily. You had no right to say them. You have no idea what Lorelai, Rory and I went through during that night, in which we didn't know whether you were going to make it or not," he said quietly, and Emily was able to see his eyes clouding over again.

"I am sorry, Richard," Emily said quietly, and lowered her eyes in shame. "You're right, I had no right to say what I said. I regretted those words as soon as they were out of my mouth, and I wish I could take them back. I was so frustrated and hurt that I didn't think. You have no idea how patronizing and cold you can be at times," Emily said and noticed that her voice had started shaking slightly.

"I am still sorry for hurting you," Emily finished. She was still looking at her hands, not knowing what was going to happen now. When she felt Richard taking her hand, she looked up to see into his eyes. She was surprised to find tears in them. She put her other hand to his cheek and caressed it softly. This was what she had longed to do for so long now. Richard suddenly reached into the breast pocket of his shirt and took something shiny out of it.

"I planned to give it back to you after my apology to you," he said and showed her the tiny object. Emily smiled softly when she realized that Richard was holding her wedding ring between his fingers. She held her hand out to him and allowed him to put the ring back onto her finger. When Richard had put the ring back to the place where it belonged, he bent forward to press a light kiss onto his wife's lips. Emily instantly gave into the kiss and marvelled at how kissing her husband still caused butterflies to flutter in her stomach. When they broke the kiss, both were smiling softly at the other one. For a few minutes both were silent, content to simply hold hands. Then Emily remembered something.

"Richard, Lorelai told me that you have trouble at the office," Emily began softly, but Richard instantly interrupted her.

"That's nothing you have to worry about. It's all taken care of," Richard said simply.

"You're not losing your job because of me, are you?" Emily asked carefully.

"No, I am not. My contract is quite a masterpiece of legal work. Floyd would be forced to pay a fortune if he wanted to get me out of the firm. He simply couldn't understand why I spent so much time with you, now that you are doing better," Richard explained and smiled at her. She smiled back and took his hand again. She gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You don't have to spend that much time with me, Richard, I am fine," Emily tried again.

"There's nothing more to be said about this, Emily, I made my decision," he said with a determined voice and Emily smiled happily. She knew that Richard probably had no idea how much this meant to her. For the first time in their lives he had put her over his work, and he had done it fully aware of the fact that it might cost him his job. Their marriage had always been about the little things and the gestures- a brief touching of hands here, a little gift there. This was one of the biggest things Richard had ever done for her and Emily bent forward to kiss her husband again. He didn't hesitate to respond to her kiss.

"Maybe we should argue more often," Emily suggested sheepishly after they had broken the kiss again.

"Oh, bite your tongue," Richard replied and both laughed softly, remembering the last time they had had this discussion.

"Have you heard anything from Lorelai, yet?" Richard asked, but instantly noticed that his wife tensed at the mentioning of their daughter's name.

"No, and I am afraid that we won't hear from her in quite some time," Emily said quietly.

"What happened?" Richard asked, even though he was sure that he had a pretty good idea of what might have happened between his wife and his daughter.

"She came back to talk to me after you had left. She told me a few things, and I wasn't exactly cooperative, to put it that way. There's a good chance that she won't talk to me again," Emily explained and lowered her eyes again. She knew that Richard had been very happy about the way things had been between Lorelai and them recently. He had enjoyed the harmony, and the new understanding between the three of them, and Emily was afraid that he might get angry. Instead she felt him taking her hand again.

"It's going to be alright," he simply said in a reassuring voice. Emily looked up again to find him smiling at her softly. She gently smiled back at him, and squeezed his hand. She was desperate to believe him.

* * *

So that's it for today ;) I hope you liked it, and if you did, leave a review ;) 


	10. Two sides of the story

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: Yes I know it's been a while, and I am very sorry again! This time I am even lacking a proper excuse… I guess lying in the sun to achieve the perfect tan doesn't count, does it? Did I mention that I am sorry? I made the chapter longer though… yes I am trying to bribe you, does it work? ;)

Dedication: To lilienprinzessin (who would have thought), Congrats on your finished paper! And to all those wonderful people out there, who always find the time to leave a review. I am so happy about those reviews! Thank you so much for that!

**Two sides of the story**

„Lorelai?" Luke yelled. He walked into the house through the back door and only barely managed to balance the seven bags of food he was carrying. "Lorelai, I am home and I am bringing food," he called out again, hoping to get some kind of reaction from his fiancée.

"Living room," he heard her call back. He set the bags down on the kitchen table and went to look for her. When he walked into the living room he was momentarily taken aback by the chaos that reigned there. There were magazines lying everywhere and the little space that wasn't covered by magazines was plastered with flower bouquets.

"Well, it's the Flodders all over again," Luke said while scratching his head. Lorelai had been lying on the floor studying one of the magazines, but now got up to greet her fiancé.

"Hey, I am planning our wedding," she explained before she pressed a gentle kiss onto his lips. She took his hand and pulled him over to the couch. She took one of the magazines and showed it to him. "You would look great in that tux," she said and grinned at him.

"Well, yes, maybe," he said while he looked at the elegant tuxedo.

"You said something of food?" Lorelai asked and went into the kitchen. Luke took another moment to look at the picture before he followed her.

"I've brought a sample of everything with me," he explained, but instantly noticed that he wouldn't have needed to. Lorelai was already happily munching on some fries and unpacked one of the burgers while doing so. He sat down next to her and took out a salad for himself. He had long ago given up trying to get her to eat something healthy.

"Isn't your mother going to be released from hospital tomorrow?" he asked carefully while studying Lorelai's face.

"Maybe," Lorelai answered and sounded as uninterested as she could. She heard Luke sigh, but decided to ignore it. She still hadn't fully told him what had happened between her and her mother a week earlier. She wanted to forget about it. Luke knew what Lorelai was trying to do and that the chaos in the living room was her way of trying to cope with the situation, but he wasn't ready to let it go just yet.

"Lorelai listen, do you really think you can keep this up? How often did you try to shut your mother out of your life? Five, six times? It won't work and you know it. Why don't you tell me what happened?" Luke asked gently. Lorelai put down her hamburger and looked at her future husband with an indescribable look on her face.

"It was the usual thing. I told her about the things that matter to me, my feelings and what is bothering me, but she just wouldn't listen to me. All she said was that I had no right to attack her and that none of the things I told her were my business," Lorelai explained quietly. "And I don't plan on ending the contact. It's up to her. I just won't return and apologize, it's her turn," Lorelai finished and returned to eating her hamburger.

"Fat chance," Luke replied dryly and smiled at Lorelai. He was glad when she smiled back at him. "You know, you could show me some of your ideas for the wedding later," he said simply, and was happy to see her face lightening up as she nodded excitedly.

* * *

"There's nothing left in the bathroom," Richard explained as he stepped out of the small bath room that was attached to his wife's hospital room.

"Good," Emily replied as she pulled the zipper of her Louis Vuitton bag closed. "I guess I am ready to go then," she said and took a last look around the room. Richard walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She gently leaned her head onto his shoulder. "Do you want me to ask the nurse to wrap the flowers into some paper? They are easier to transport then," Richard said and stared at the still amazing number of bouquets and arrangements that had piled up in his wife's room.

"No, Richard really, don't you know that taking the flowers you got in hospital home with you brings bad luck?" Emily asked and smiled at her husband, who shrugged.

"Now, we don't want to risk that, do we?" he asked and placed a soft kiss on the top of his wife's head. There was a soft knock on the door and Emily looked at Richard in surprise. "Who could that be?" she asked.

"Maybe it's the nurses, who want to make sure that you really are leaving," Richard said teasingly.

"Yes, or it is Dr. Johanson, who wants to ask me to marry him," Emily shot back. "And if you go on teasing me, I might even consider it," Emily finished and then grinned at her husband, who smiled back.

"Come in," Emily finally called and couldn't have been more surprised by the person, who entered. "Rory!" Emily exclaimed happily and went to hug her granddaughter.

"Hey Grandma!" Rory greeted back and after hugging her grandmother went over to her grandfather to repeat the ritual.

"What are you doing here?" Richard asked and took the question right out of Emily's mouth.

"I was on my way to Stars Hollow when I remembered that grandma was being released from hospital today, so I thought I'd stop by," Rory said cheerfully and smiled at her grandparents. Emily returned the smile. She was touched by Rory's gesture, especially since she was sure that Lorelai had told her daughter all about the fight.

"Well that's lovely of you. We were just about to leave. Do you want to come home with us and have some coffee?" Emily asked.

"Uh no, I can't. Mum is expecting me for lunch," Rory replied apologetically.

"Of course, we don't want to keep you," Emily said and smiled at her granddaughter again. She was trying to think of what to say next, but decided to follow her feeling. "How is Lorelai?" Emily asked carefully, not sure what Rory's reaction was going to be.

"Oh she's great, busily planning her wedding. That's why I am driving home, I want to help her pick the dresses for the bride's maids," Rory replied cheerfully, while monitoring her grandmother's reaction to her answer. She was glad to see that her reply had the desired effect. Her grandmother's eyes clouded over for a brief moment, but long enough for Rory to notice it. Part of the reason why Rory had decided to stop by was that she hoped she could get her grandmother to take the first step towards reconciliation with Lorelai.

"Well that's good to hear," Richard replied and carefully watched his wife, but Emily quickly regained her composure.

"Yes well, tell her that pink is an awful colour," Emily said shortly and then smiled at her husband. "Shall we go then?" she asked and was glad when both Rory and Richard nodded.

* * *

When Richard opened the door to their house Emily realized that she was actually excited to come home again. Richard held the door open for her and she carefully walked into the house. She instantly noticed the fresh flowers that were everywhere. She stepped into the foyer and let her eyes wander around the room. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the familiar smell of her own home. It was a mixture of old leather, fresh flowers, Chanel No. 5 and Richard's aftershave. She loved the smell, it was so different to the sterile smell of the hospital. She heard Richard walking up behind her and smiled when he put his arms around her from behind.

"Welcome home," he whispered into her ear and Emily shivered softly. She put her head against his chest and closed her eyes. She simply wanted to enjoy the moment.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Gilmore," an unfamiliar voice suddenly said and Emily resentfully opened her eyes again. The maid standing in front of her smiled at her.

Emily was disappointed when Richard removed his arms again, but she quickly reminded herself that they still had time for that later.

"Thank you, Sabina," Emily answered. Quite contrary to popular believe she knew her maids, and was able to remember them, even years after they had left the Gilmore house. The maid nodded dutifully before she walked into the kitchen.

"I didn't fire her, because I thought you might like to do that," Richard said jokingly and visibly enjoyed it when Emily threw him one of her famous looks.

"Maybe we should keep her, she seems to have done a good job during the last weeks," Emily said, but ran a finger across the painting just to be sure that everything was as clean as she wanted it to be.

"If you say so," Richard replied, and quietly thought that he gave poor Sabina another two days before she joined her predecessors at the job agency. He followed his wife into the living room, where she sat down on one of the sofas.

"Are you tired?" Richard inquired and studied his wife's face.

"A little," Emily admitted and was able to stifle a yawn.

"You heard Dr. Johanson today, you are supposed to take it easy. I don't want you to overdo it," Richard lectured her.

"Yes Richard, this is the fifth time you're telling me that, the one time in the car not included," Emily answered and then smiled at her husband. "I know you mean well," she said benevolently.

"You can take a nap while I am at work," Richard suggested. He hated leaving her alone, but knew it was inevitable. He also knew that his wife would probably go crazy if he was around her all the time. He could vividly remember the problems they had had during his short period of retirement.

"Yes I'll do that," Emily agreed and got up to press a soft goodbye kiss onto her husband's lips.

"Well maybe I could stay home one more day," Richard said mischievously.

"Richard!" Emily said in mock indignation, but kissed him once again, before she accompanied him to the door.

"Go to bed," Richard ordered before he left and Emily nodded with a last exasperate sigh.

When he had left Emily returned to the living room, and even though she didn't want to, she knew that her body demanded a short nap. On her way to the stairs her eyes fell onto the giant family portrait that hung over the fire place. She looked at Lorelai's unnerved face for a moment, before she managed to avert her gaze again and began mounting the stairs.

* * *

"I am home!" Rory called out cheerfully as she entered her mother's house. When she wanted to walk into the living room she bumped into Sookie, who came from the kitchen.

"Ouch uh Sookie, I didn't see you," Rory laughed as she regained her balance.

"Hey kid, great to see you," Sookie said and hugged Rory briefly before she pulled her into the living room.

"Sit down, kid, you're mum will be down in a minute," Sookie said and pushed some magazines off the couch.

"What is she doing?" Rory asked, allowing her eyes to wander around the living room. Pictures of brides and grooms were pinned to every square metre of the wall, and the floor was covered with magazines.

"She's trying on wedding dresses," Sookie explained and couldn't help grinning from one ear to the next.

"What! I thought she already had one," Rory said in confusion.

"Yes, but unfortunately it has been sold in the mean time," Sookie explained.

"Why didn't you wait for me? I wanted to see the dresses as well," Rory said and wasn't able to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"We wanted to, but then you took so long, and we got so excited," Sookie said and smiled at Rory, who was visible trying not to show her sadness.

"Don't worry! This is the first one," Sookie finally admitted and slapped Rory playfully.

"Mean!" was all Rory shot back.

"SOOOOKIE?" Lorelai's cry could suddenly be heard from upstairs.

"What is it?" Sookie yelled back.

"I think I am stuck…. Uh wait I am not… What kind of system is this?" Lorelai could be heard ranting from upstairs again and both Rory and Sookie couldn't help giggling.

"Who's down there?" Lorelai yelled down again while she continued her fight with her dress.

"Your own flesh and blood," Rory called back. "Get down here, we want to see you."

"Coming," Lorelai yelled even though she was already standing on top of the stairs. Rory and Sookie watched as Lorelai descended the stairs slowly. Rory had to smile softly as she watched her mother. Apart from the breathtaking dress she was wearing, she seemed to glow with happiness. When Rory heard sniffling, she wordlessly handed Sookie a tissue.

"Hey kiddo, when did you sneak in here?" Lorelai asked, pretending to not notice that both Rory and Sookie seemed to love the dress.

"Five minutes ago… You look stunning, Mum," Rory said and couldn't tear her eyes away from her mother.

"Yes you do," Sookie added tearfully, and blew her nose again loudly.

"Really?" Lorelai asked, even though she loved the dress as well. She twirled around to show both Sookie and her daughter how beautifully the dress swung around.

"Don't you think it might be a little too much?" Lorelai asked insecurely. She looked down at herself. Even though the dress was simple it looked very elegant. It was a sleeveless white corsage dress with a wide flowing skirt. The top had small pearls applied to it, and Lorelai wore long matching gloves.

"Yeah maybe you shouldn't wear it," Rory suddenly said and watched her mother's face fall.

"Why not?" Sookie asked flabbergasted.

"We don't want Luke to drop dead at the altar, do we?" Rory asked and then quickly joined her mother's laughing.

Lorelai walked over to the couch and carefully sat down. She patted the space next to her and Sookie and Rory followed her invitation.

"What took you so long to get here?" Lorelai asked as she tried to decide whether she would drink some of the coffee that stood on the table or not. She finally decided against it, the risk of spilling some of the coffee onto the dress was just too high.

"I stopped by at the hospital," Rory answered plainly, waiting for her mother's reaction.

"Oh… well… how are my parents?" Lorelai finally asked back. She should have known that Rory would try to interfere.

"They're great. They finally released grandma. I guess it was either that or hiring new nurses, because the old ones would have quit tomorrow," Rory joked. Sookie politely laughed at Rory's comment, but continued to watch Lorelai carefully.

"How nice," Lorelai said. Rory sighed mentally, this was going to be hard work. Even though she herself had only recently started to heal her relationship with her grandmother she knew how important it was for her mother that Emily was at the wedding. Lorelai would never admit it, but she needed her parents.

Usually Rory would let them solve this problem of their own, because she knew that they would do so eventually, but time was running out this time. If Emily missed the wedding, it could very well destroy all hopes of a closer relationship between mother and daughter. Rory thought that she had seen her grandmother's resistance diminishing today, now she only had to make sure that her mother was ready for any kind of gesture that might come from Emily.

"Okay, this was dress number one, now we only have five more to go," Lorelai suddenly called out and broke into Rory's thoughts. She decided to let the problems between her mother and grandmother rest for the moment.

* * *

The next morning Emily woke up to the soft smell of breakfast. When she opened her eyes she saw Richard standing in front of her bed, carrying a tray with food and fresh coffee.

"Good morning sleepy head," he said gently and placed the tray on her bedside table.

"You should stop spoiling me like that or I might get used to it," Emily replied and smiled at him softly.

"I think I'll risk that," Richard said and sat down next to her on the bed. "I have to go to work now, but I'll try to come home as soon as possible. Do you have anything planned for today?"

"There is a special DAR meeting this afternoon, which I'd like to attend," she said and grinned at Richard. He knew just as well as she did that this was a meeting they held in her honour, and he knew that she loved it.

"Well as long as you don't celebrate too much, I don't have anything against it," he said.

"How nice of you," Emily replied.

"I know. Listen, I had Mercedes bring you a new car. It's the same model as the last one and you'll find it in your garage," Richard explained.

"Thank you," Emily said and turned her attention to the breakfast.

"Yes well, I'll be going then," Richard said and got up. He bent down and kissed Emily softly. With a last smile at her he was out of the door.

Emily spent a lazy morning, and then slowly began to get ready for the meeting at two o'clock. She wanted to look fabulous. Ever since Sweetie had died she hadn't really been able to find a friend like her again. The women at the DAR were nice ladies, but Emily knew that they wouldn't hesitate to abandon her and follow someone else. She enjoyed the admiration and respect she got, but also knew that she had to work hard to keep it. She had to look stunning this afternoon, because that would definitely silence everyone, who thought she might not be fit enough to stay the president of the DAR.

She enjoyed a long shower and then carefully did her hair and picked out her outfit. A simple, but elegant black Chanel suit would do the trick. She eyed herself in the mirror and was satisfied with what she saw.

"Sabina, I am leaving now. Please take the calls and don't forget to take notes!" Emily instructed the maid.

"Of course Mrs. Gilmore, I whish you a pleasant afternoon," Sabina answered, relieved to have the house to herself again. As civil as her boss was treating her, Sabina preferred working without having someone glancing over her shoulder every other minute.

Emily walked up to her garage and watched how the electronic gate lifted and revealed her brand new, shining Mercedes. She looked at it for a short moment before she took a deep breath and walked up to the car. She was proud of herself that she wasn't even shaking when she unlocked the car and sat down inside of it. She checked the interior of the car and then proceeded to start the engine. She listened to the familiar roar of the motor, and carefully moved the gear to D. Just as she wanted to bring her foot down on the gas, her right foot started shaking uncontrollably. She put her foot down again, and leaned back in her seat. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _'Get your act together Emily' _she scolded herself. She kept her eyes closed and took another deep breath, but that didn't help her. She suddenly felt the car spinning again and heard Lorelai's scared scream ringing in her ears. Emily opened her eyes again with a start and hurried out of the car. She felt dizzy, and sweat was building on her forehead. She tumbled out of the garage and back to the main house.

As she opened the door she was met by the maid, who looked at her with concern on her face.

"Mrs. Gilmore, aren't you feeling well?" Sabina asked and quietly cursed herself for not having paid attention in her first aid course.

"No…no I am fine, I just need a moment," Emily stammered, desperately trying to regain control over herself.

"Maybe I should call your husband, he told me to call him if something was wrong," Sabina said helplessly.

"No! You will not call my husband, do you hear me? I am going upstairs now, I'll let you know if I need something," Emily replied and was proud of her firm voice. She didn't look at the maid as she hurried upstairs.

Emily was glad when she had reached her bedroom and was able to close the door behind her. She sat down on her bed and closed her eyes again, she did no longer hear her heart drumming inside her chest and her breathing eased again.

Dr. Johanson had mentioned that something like this could happen and had advised seeing a psychiatrist just to be sure, but of course Emily had protested vehemently. She slowly removed her shoes and then lay down on her bed.

She must have fallen asleep, because she only woke up again when she heard a soft knocking on her door. She sleepily lifted her head, and then got up. It was Sabina standing on the other side, holding the telephone out to her. Emily took it with a curt nod. It was Margaret Livingston inquiring whether something had happened, because they were waiting for her.

"Oh Margaret I am incredibly sorry, I had this unforeseen check up today, but everything is just fine. Send my love to everyone, I can't wait to take part in the meeting next week," Emily fluted. She hung up with a sad sigh and placed the phone on her bedside table before she wandered over to the window. She took a look outside. The snow had started melting two weeks ago and nothing reminded of the chaos that had reigned on the streets only weeks ago. She watched a little bird flying around, busily collecting little pieces of wood to build his nest. Her thoughts wandered back to her daughter, and the last conversation they've had. Lorelai had been wrong to assume that her words didn't have any affect on Emily. She had been thinking about them a lot, she just didn't like to admit that. Emily sighed heavily as she realized that she had never really given Lorelai the chance to understand her. Things weren't as easy and black and white as Lorelai would have liked them to be.

* * *

Okay that's it for today, but chapter 11 is already half done, so I promise (and this time I'll keep it) that I am going to update soon. Let me know what you think of chapter 10, please!


	11. Sharing the guilt

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB 

Author's note: Just for the record: I kept my promise )  
I am afraid this chapter is rather long. I tried to split it into two chapters, but I just couldn't decide where to end this chapter and start the next one… so you'll just have to read it all in one chapter. It is sort of the centrepiece of the story, so I think the length is justified.

After this chapter there is only one more to come, but the story was never planned any differently. The last chapter is already written and will be up soon and the sequel is planned.

If the formatting is odd, say thank you to because uploading just wouldn't work and I had to do it manually...

Again I want to thank those of you, who reviewed. I am all smiles every time I get a review, and most of you really went into detail. I loved it and am very grateful!

**Sharing the guilt**

On Saturday afternoon Rory, Sookie and Lorelai met again. While Lorelai had found a wedding dress, the question of the bridesmaids' gowns was still open.

"No way am I going to wear that!" Sookie shrieked as she looked at the short yellow dress she held in her hands.

"Gotcha!" Lorelai laughed at Sookie's horrified face. "You didn't really think I'd make my bridesmaids wear yellow dresses, did you"

"No," Sookie admitted, but was still glad that she could safely throw the yellow dress back onto the pile of dresses on the couch.

Rory came back from her room, wearing a long simple light blue dress and smiling happily. "This is pretty, I want this one," she said and looked at her mother with begging eyes.

"It's good, but there are five more, I want to see them all," Lorelai said sternly.

"Okay, but without me. Whatever you choose is fine by me, except the yellow one," Sookie said and smiled at her best friend. "It's time for Martha's dinner"

"That's fine Sookie, see you on Monday," Lorelai said and waved at her exiting friend, before she turned back to her daughter.

"How about this one?" she asked and held up a long modern dress.

"I like it, but grandma told me to tell you that pink is a horrible colour," Rory said as she eyed the soft pink dress.

"And since when do I care about my mother's opinion?" Lorelai asked.

"Uhm since forever?" Rory shot back and returned her mother's stare.

"On whose side are you anyways? If it weren't for me you'd still not be talking to your grandmother," Lorelai said and began to feel irritation rising in her.

"I am on nobody's site, but you seemed to be so happy during the past weeks, and I just want you to have the wedding you want," Rory justified herself. "I'll have that as long as my mother doesn't interfere," Lorelai said and by the tone in her mother's voice Rory knew that the discussion was over.

Lorelai walked into the kitchen and took a moment to think about her daughter's words. She was right, she wanted her mother to be at her wedding, but she wanted her mother to share her joy, not to simply tolerate it.

* * *

When Richard returned home at five o'clock in the afternoon he was surprised to find the garage open and his wife's car inside. He had actually planned to surprise her with being home when she returned, but it looked like she had beaten him to it.

"Hello?" he called as he stepped into the foyer, and the maid instantly came hurrying to get his coat. "Good evening Mr. Gilmore," Sabina greeted him.

"Good evening, where is my wife?" Richard inquired as he handed his coat to the maid.

"I think she is still in her bedroom," Sabina said and avoided looking at her boss's eyes. "Is something wrong?" Richard asked, getting suspicious when the maid couldn't look into his eyes.

"No, everything is fine," the maid said and then hurried out of the foyer.

Richard narrowed his eyes and was about to walk upstairs, when he saw Emily coming down the stairs. "Richard? You're early," Emily said in surprise.

"It's Saturday, dear, there wasn't much to do," he said and then walked over to the couches, were Emily had sat down. "How was your meeting?" he asked, and went over to the drinking card to pour them some drinks.

"Oh well, I didn't go," Emily said cheerfully, hoping against hope that he wouldn't ask why. She had briefly considered telling him that she had gone, but she knew that he would eventually find out about her lie. "Why is that?" Richard asked surprised, while handing the drink to his wife. "I just didn't want to go with all the correspondence still left unanswered and everything," she explained and at the same time knew that she wouldn't get away with it.

"Okay Emily, what is going on here?" Richard asked as he set his drink down on the table. He fixed his wife with his stare and when he saw Emily squirming ever so softly, he knew that something was wrong.

"Nothing Richard," Emily tried again.

"Sabina? Sabina, would you come in here for a minute?" Richard called out, knowing that it would be easier to get the maid to talk than to expect Emily to spill her secret.

"Yes Mr. Gilmore?" Sabina asked as she entered the living room. She carefully looked from Emily to Richard.

"Sabina, would you be so kind as to tell me what happened this afternoon," Richard demanded strictly. Sabina was clearly uncomfortable as she was trying to decide what she should do. Both Richard and Emily were staring at her. She finally came to the conclusion that she'd get fired anyway, so she quickly retold the events of the afternoon. She tried to avoid looking at Emily as she did so.

"Thank you Sabina," Richard said as she had finished. His voice had audibly cooled. Emily threw a last death glare at the maid, before Sabina hurried out of the living room again.  
Emily lowered her eyes to look at her hands, while she felt Richard's eyes resting on her. "I told you to call me if something was wrong," Richard said, and Emily was able to hear the anger in his voice.

"I didn't want to worry you, it wasn't that bad," Emily explained feebly.

"Emily, you were there when Dr. Johanson told us about the possibility of a panic attack, and that such an attack can very well be dangerous," Richard said, exasperated at his wife's stubbornness. He got up from the couch and paced the room. "I thought we had talked about us being more honest," he said.

"I know Richard, and I am sorry, I just…., " Emily tried to justify herself, but broke off. Richard sat down next to her, and put his hand on top of hers.

"What is really going on here?" he asked gently, and was glad when Emily finally met his eyes. Instead of answering though she put her head onto his shoulder, and enjoyed it when he put his arm around her and hugged her to himself. Richard placed a soft kiss on the top of Emily's head, deciding to let the matter rest for the moment. He thought that he had a pretty good idea of what was bothering his wife.

"I'll call the hospital later and make an appointment for Monday. They should check you through," Richard said after a moment of silence.

"Richard, I don't need that," Emily replied, and sat upright again.

"I won't tolerate protest, the only thing you can choose from is whether you want me to come with you or whether I should hire a driver to take you," Richard said and Emily knew it was futile to disagree with him. She didn't want him to worry.

"A driver will be fine," she gave in with a sigh.

"A driver it is then," Richard said and pulled her close to him again.

When Richard returned out of his study two hours later, he found his wife comfortably sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper.

"Anything interesting?" Richard asked as he walked past her towards the drinking card. When he didn't get an answer, he turned around and walked up to her. He put a hand onto her shoulder, but removed it again when Emily sat up with a start.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Richard said and smiled at his wife.

"No it's alright, I was distracted," Emily replied, and shut the paper. Richard however was able to catch a last glimpse of the site Emily had been reading, before she shut the paper and put it onto the table. "I think I'll take a bath now," Emily exclaimed, smiling seductively at her husband.

"Alright, you go ahead, I'll be there soon. I've got one last call to make," Richard said and smiled back at his wife.

He went into the study and looked at the phone for a long time before he made up his mind. This was going on long enough now. He knew that both his wife and his daughter suffered because of the situation and Emily's forlorn look on her face as she had been studying the wedding announcements in the paper was enough to make his heart break.

Lorelai had just cleared the remainders of dinner away, when the telephone rang. She went over to answer it, and was surprised by the person on the other end. "Dad? How nice to hear from you. How are you?" she asked and sat down on the couch next to Luke.

"I am fine, Lorelai, how are you and Luke?" Richard asked back politely. "We're great, very busy, but happy. Hey you are going to walk me down the aisle, won't you?" Lorelai asked and snuggled up to Luke.

"Of course I will Lorelai, I am your father," Richard answered matter-of-factly, but couldn't help smiling softly at the prospect of leading his beautiful daughter to the altar. "Just checking to be sure," Lorelai said and laughed softly. "Lorelai listen, the reason why I am calling is that your mother isn't doing too well," Richard said.

"What? Is something wrong?" Lorelai asked with concern and sat upright again. Luke was startled by the sudden movement of his fiancée and looked at her with a worried expression on his face.

"No, don't worry, Lorelai, I don't mean her health," Richard explained. "It's about the situation between the two of you," he went on, but was interrupted by Lorelai.

"Dad, before you continue, I am not going to discuss this with you. What is it with everyone these days? It's not like I was the one starting the argument, and I am not the one, who has to make the next move," Lorelai ranted.

"Lorelai, all I am asking for is that you come by and try to talk to her," Richard begged.

"No, Dad, it's up to her, I am the one waiting for some kind of gesture from her," Lorelai said and Richard was able to hear the sadness in his daughter's voice.

"All right Lorelai, I had to try," he said quietly. "Please greet Luke from me, will you?" he asked and Lorelai agreed happily. When she had hung up she turned to Luke. "In case you wanted to join the "Lorelai-has-to-make-the-first-step,-even-though-it's-not-her-fault-fanclub": Don't!" she said pointedly.

"I wouldn't dare," Luke said and lifted both arms in surrender. "Good," Lorelai replied and smiled at him seductively.

* * *

Emily sat in the back of the car Richard had ordered for her, and thought about the things Dr. Johanson had told her during her check up. He had told her that such panic attacks were often triggered by something that unconsciously reminded the patient of a traumatic situation, and they got even more severe when some unresolved personal issues were involved. Emily sighed heavily, Dr. Johanson had no idea how right he was. She looked out of the window, trying to clear her head, when a shop window caught her eye.

"Excuse me, could you stop here for a second?" she called out to the driver.

"Of course Ma'am," the driver answered and pulled over to park the car.

"Thank you, it won't be long," Emily said and with that got out of the car.

* * *

"Richard?" Emily asked quietly when they sat at the breakfast table on Wednesday.

"Yes Emily," Richard replied, but didn't take his eyes away from the paper.

"Could you do me another favour?" she asked carefully.

"Of course, dear," Richard said and finally put his paper down.

"Could you accompany me to Stars Hollow today?" Emily asked, and looked at Richard intently.

"Today?" Richard asked back, trying to remember his work schedule for the day and whether he would be able to change it.

"I know it is short notice, but…," Emily broke off, suddenly feeling silly to push the matter like that. She could certainly wait till the weekend, but she feared that she might lose her courage till then.

"Okay, Emily, of course I'll come with you, but could we do this in the afternoon, because I have a meeting at 9 o'clock that I simply cannot miss," Richard said and smiled at his wife, who nodded and smiled back gratefully. ---

When the car came to a halt in front of Lorelai's house, Emily felt sick. She had spent the morning thinking of possible things to tell her daughter, but was unsatisfied with all of them. Richard got out of the car and then opened her door for her. She allowed him to help her out of the car, and then took a moment to look at the house. "I'll be at Luke's if you need me, I still have a betting debt to pay" Richard said and smiled at her.

"What do you mean with you're at Luke's!" Emily asked, and was annoyed about the insecurity in her voice.

"This is between you and Lorelai, my dear," Richard explained and pressed a light kiss on the top of Emily's head.

"But.. ," Emily wanted to protest, but Richard was already walking towards the end of Lorelai's driveway and the town centre. She took a last calming breath, and then walked up to the front door of her daughter's beloved house. She rung the bell twice, before she heard someone coming to the door. Lorelai was annoyed about the disturbance on her free afternoon. She had planned to spend the day lying on her couch, doing virtually nothing, while she waited for Luke to return home in the evening. She opened the door, fully planning to send away whoever was standing there, when she recognized the visitor.

"Hello Lorelai," Emily said simply, looking at her daughter carefully. She was clutching the big purse she was carrying and waited for her daughter's reaction to her visit.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked nonplussed.

"I came to talk," Emily explained, starting to feel very uncomfortable. "Talk," Lorelai stated.

"Yes talk, Lorelai," Emily said and felt how she began to get annoyed by her daughter's behaviour.

"Where is Dad going?" Lorelai suddenly asked, watching her father crossing the street and walking towards the town centre.

"He said something about Luke and a bet," Emily explained, still standing outside Lorelai's house.

"So you came here to talk?" Lorelai asked again- trying to buy herself some time, because she was not sure how to react to her mother's unforeseen visit.

"Oh for heaven's sake, yes, Lorelai. I won't do it standing on the porch, though," Emily said, now clearly unnerved.

"Oh, I am sorry," Lorelai said, stepping aside to let her mother in. She took her mother's coat and then followed her into her living room. Lorelai hurried to clear some space for her mother, because there were still tons of magazines lying around.

"Do you want to drink something?" Lorelai asked, not really knowing what else to do.

"Yes, a glass of water would be nice," Emily said, grateful for the distraction and the time it bought her to calm down again, and get the edgy tone out of her voice.  
Lorelai returned with two glasses of water and then sat down opposite to her mother on the chair that stood there.  
For a moment both women sipped their water quietly, then Emily got up and started pacing the room. Lorelai decided to keep quiet as she waited for her mother to start. "Lorelai, you know why I am here, I want to talk about the things you said in hospital," Emily began, and instantly realized that it had been a bad opening line, because she saw Lorelai's body tensing.

"I want to apologize for the way I treated you in that situation, I shouldn't have been as reprimanding as I've been. You were right about many things," Emily admitted quietly, and only briefly glanced at her daughter. Lorelai simply nodded in response. She had mixed feelings about her mother's apology. On the one hand she was overjoyed that it had finally come, and on the other hand she sensed that there was more to come. "However," Emily continued, "I don't think that you know my reasons for acting the way I did"

"Oh please Mum, not the same speech again. You only did what you thought was best for me… bla bla bla. I know it Mum, and you know what, I don't believe it," Lorelai said, feeling irritation rising in her again. Why couldn't her mother just apologize and leave it like that? She fixed her mother with her stare, before she continued. "How can you be as hypocritical as you are? For how many years have I listened to your ongoing rants about grandma? How unfair she was, how badly she treated you… but do you know that you are very much like her? What exactly is it that makes you different from her?" Lorelai asked- relieved to finally have said what she had wanted to tell her mother for a long time. Emily had stopped pacing and stood behind the couch, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"When you are talking like this, I realize that you don't know me at all," Emily replied, returning her daughter's stare.

"Oh please, Mum, what is there to know?" Lorelai snorted.

"Lorelai, you were the one, who once told me that I didn't know you, and you were right. I didn't know you, but you know what, you don't know me either. If you knew me, then why would you have had to ask me all those questions, while we were stuck in the car?" Emily asked back, satisfied to see her daughter averting her gaze for a moment.

"If you knew me, you'd also know my reasons for treating Luke the way I did," Emily went on, making sure that her daughter still listened to her and was looking at her.

"Did your father or someone else ever tell you about what happened the day you left or what happened afterwards?" Emily asked, inevitably thinking back to that painful day.

Lorelai remembered her father's rant after the incident with the Haydens, and how surprised and shocked she had been by the fact that her departure had unsettled her mother the way it had. She decided to keep quiet though- not knowing what her mother was getting at. She softly shook her head, waiting for her mother to continue.

Emily rounded the couch and sat down again, looking at the mantelpiece with the family photos of Lorelai and Rory as she began talking again.

"After I had found your letter I instantly sent your father to go looking for you. He drove all through Hartford, but didn't find you. I called all your friends, because I thought you might have gone there. When your father returned after three hours we called the police, only to find out that they couldn't act as long as you weren't gone for more than 24 hours," Emily said, and tried to push the emotions, which the memories brought with them, away. "When the next day came, and we still had no sign of where you were, we called the police again and they sent an officer over to our house. He was kind enough and asked us all sorts of questions about you. That was the moment when you called," Emily broke off momentarily. Both mother and daughter thought back to that first phone call. Emily had been yelling into the phone, until Richard had finally taken the phone out of her hands to calmly ask his daughter where she was. Emily had hated him for his calmness, his detachedness.

"After we had hung up again, I wanted to drive to Stars Hollow and get you. I already had the car keys in my hand when the police officer called me back. He told me that it wasn't uncommon for teenagers to run away. He advised us to let you be for the moment. He said that most teenagers realized rather quickly that living on their own wasn't as easy as they had imagined it to be and returned home after some time. If we dragged you home however, we would risk you running away again," Emily recounted the details of her conversation with the police officer. "Your father thought that it sounded convincing, and I agreed to the plan. I hadn't thought that you'd really make it," Emily admitted softly.

"And if I had returned home you could have shown me once again that you were always right and superior. You would have been able to keep your pride," Lorelai said bitterly. Emily raised her eyes to look at her daughter. She wanted to protest at first, but then nodded- realizing that her daughter was right.

"When you hadn't returned the next week, I knew that you wouldn't come back. You had called again, telling us about your job, and I realized that our chance to get you back had passed. That was when I…," Emily broke off, but by the look in her daughter's eyes she knew that Lorelai had learned of the breakdown her mother had suffered back then. Emily was silent for a moment, trying to reorganize her thoughts.

"Did you ever think about coming home?" she finally asked quietly. Lorelai sighed heavily, not sure how to answer.

"Yes, I did. During the first three days when Rory was constantly screaming, because everything was so unfamiliar to her, I really had thought about returning home, but then I remembered why I had left in the first place," Lorelai said, looking at her mother. Her mother's soft features from only seconds ago had tensed again. "To be frank, I didn't think you'd care much anyway," Lorelai said sadly, "after all you didn't even come looking for me," she finished.

"How could you have thought that?" Emily asked, and Lorelai sensed that her mother was really taken aback by the information.

"Oh come on, Mum, don't tell me you have forgotten how it was before I had left," Lorelai asked incredulously.

"I don't know what you're referring to," Emily said, her tone sharpening audibly.

"Then let me help refreshing your memory," Lorelai said, and got up from her chair. Like her mother had done before, she started pacing before she began speaking.

"You were never there, Mum, and when you were, you had no time for me. I am not talking about the whole me being pregnant fiasco, but about the time before that. Can you actually look into the mirror and tell yourself that you've been a good mother?" Lorelai asked, as long suppressed memories of her childhood flooded her mind. Emily kept quiet, simply staring at her daughter.

"You never cared about my life, whatever I did, it was never good enough. You never praised, you only punished. You never took me out when I got good grades, but you grounded me for weeks if I failed to live up to your standards," Lorelai exclaimed, feeling hot tears welling up in her eyes.

"The only damn way to catch your attention was to do something wrong. You never let me make up my mind. It was society's way or none at all. I still get a screaming fit every time I hear the sentence 'What will the neighbours think?'. Every time you hug Rory I wonder when was the last time that you hugged me or told me you loved me or showed any kind of affection towards me," Lorelai went on, but then had to stop to wipe a tear away that had managed to escape. "I was a burden for you," Lorelai finished quietly, desperately trying to get her emotions under control.

"I had no idea you felt like this," Emily said softly. She looked at Lorelai's swimming eyes, and had the sudden urge to get up and hug her.

"You were my life, Lorelai," Emily went on and didn't let Lorelai's hateful laughter stop her. "You were brought up like any other girl of the time. You were brought up like your father and I had been. I had nannies caring for me all through my childhood, and still managed to have a good relationship with my mother. I never understood what went wrong with us… you had everything all the other girls had as well. Unlike the other girls you didn't like it, though. You never wanted to wear dresses, and instead of enjoying parties, you hated them," Emily said, remembering the fear she had felt back then when she had begun to sense that her daughter was drifting away from her.

"I didn't know how to react to your opposition, to your screaming and your crying," Emily admitted. "I made a lot of mistakes, Lorelai, I know that and I am truly sorry for them, but I will not take the sole guilt for this," Emily said determinedly, but her voice stayed gentle.

"Of course you won't," Lorelai spat out. To her surprise her mother didn't get angry though, she simply smiled at her Lorelai. "Have you ever tried to get to know me or my life, Lorelai? Sometimes I think you were so busy hating everything I did that you didn't see the positive things behind it all. I am not just the wife of someone or the mother of someone, Lorelai. Did you know that I wanted to major in art history and literary science? Did you know that I dreamed of travelling the world, of seeing all the famous paintings in all those famous museums? Did you know that I gave up all of that, because I was so deeply in love with your father? Did you know that I sat by your bed every night, holding your hand while you were sleeping, because you cried as soon as I let go?" Emily asked, and felt her own eyes beginning to fill with tears.

Lorelai still stood opposite to her mother, and felt her head spinning. She was still angry. Angry, because she still felt that she had every right to be mad at her mother, angry, because the reasons for her mother's behaviour suddenly seemed understandable. Lorelai had to think back to Rory, who had told her about her mother's reasons for rejecting Luke days ago. 'She's never going to let me live this down' Lorelai thought as she realized that Rory had been right with everything she had said. Her mother was jealous of Luke and more importantly, jealous of Stars Hollow.

"I thought that at some point we would be able to share all of this, but you had left before we got the chance to do so," Lorelai suddenly heard her mother say. She allowed her mother's words to sink in some more, before she sniffled softly and addressed her mother again.

"So what now, Mum? What do we do now?" Lorelai asked- desperation in her voice. "Can you honestly say that you will change now? Can you honestly promise me that you'll accept Luke and my life? Can you?" Lorelai asked.

"No, Lorelai, I can't. All I can promise you is that I'll try. There will be times when I'll return to my old way of acting. The question is whether you want to make the effort of seeing beyond your disappointment and your hurt?" Emily asked and looked at her daughter.

Lorelai noticed that there was no expectation in her mother's eyes. She simply waited for Lorelai's answer, and for the first time in her life, Lorelai felt like she was really free to decide, because her mother would accept her decision.

Lorelai wanted to speak up again, but at that moment the phone started ringing. Lorelai looked at it for a second, trying to decide what to do, but eventually went over to answer it.

"Michel, calm down… what is on fire! How did that…. Okay." Emily listened to her daughter's conversation with her concierge. Lorelai waved apologetically before she took the phone to the kitchen with her. Emily was able to hear her daughter's muffled voice as she was left alone in the living room. She got up slowly, walking over to the mantelpiece. She once more enjoyed the pictures of Rory's childhood and the snapshots of Lorelai and her friends, before she made her decision. She took her bag and opened it slowly. She carefully took the two lovingly wrapped gifts out of it and positioned them on the table. Emily looked around the newly decorated living room once more before she left her daughter's house with a last wistful smile.

* * *

Well, that's it… I'd love to know what you think, this time especially. This chapter has been in my head ever since I started writing the story, so please please leave a review and tell me what you think (yes, I am begging lol). 


	12. Dear Mrs Ms Gilmore

Disclaimer: ASP and the WB

Author's note: That's it, after 63 pages and over 40.000 words this is the last chapter. I am actually sad to end this story, but as I said before, I always wanted to end this story at this point. It leaves so much place for a sequel, which is already in my head.

I want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing, I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved writing it. You're great! Thank you soooo much!

Dedication: Once and for all for lilienprinzessin. A girl couldn't whish for a greater beta. Thanx for al the critique and for kicking my ass when I took too long! Huggles!

**Dear Mrs./ Ms. Gilmore**

Emily enjoyed the short walk to Luke's diner and used the time to let the afternoon replay in her head. She didn't know what the outcome of the talk between her and her daughter was going to be, but she hoped that Lorelai had gained a new understanding for her.

Some of Lorelai's words had hurt and the accusations still rung in Emily's head. She was able to understand her daughter's feelings to some extent.

Emily thought back to the day when she had found Lorelai burning her baby pictures. Emily had been angry at first, but then it dawned on her that all her jokes about Lorelai's huge head must have hurt the young child deeply. She had tried to be especially nice and understanding in the time following the incident, but Lorelai would probably have needed an apology more.

When Emily reached the diner, she instantly noticed the happy buzz that was going on there. She spotted Richard sitting on the counter with a beer in his hand- a sight she had never thought she'd see. He hadn't noticed her, which wasn't surprising with the constant opening and closing of the diner door. She slowly walked up to him and then put a hand onto his shoulder. He turned around to her and smiled at her softly.

"Hey," he said simply, eying her closely. She looked tired, but content.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked back, smiling at him to show him that she was alright.

"Of course, I just need to say goodbye to Luke," Richard answered. They didn't have to wait long for Luke to walk out of the kitchen again.

"Oh hello Emily," Luke said.

"Hello Luke," Emily replied, smiling at him.

"Is everything okay with Lorelai?" he asked carefully- not sure what to expect.

"Give her half an hour before you call her," Emily advised him, thinking back to the two gifts she had left behind.

Luke simply nodded.

"Can I get you something?" he asked Emily. By now he felt comfortable enough around Richard, but Luke still didn't know what to expect from Emily Gilmore.

"No thank you Luke, we're going to drive home now," Richard answered the question. "Thank you for the beer. The next time I'll be the one inviting you," Richard said and smiled at Luke warmly.

"Good idea," Luke said and returned Richard's smile. Emily knew that Richard felt very differently about Luke ever since the fateful night of the accident. It made Emily confident that she could change her behaviour towards him as well.

* * *

"Yes Michel I'll talk to the insurance company tomorrow. Do me favour and keep Sookie away from the stove now… no, I don't care how you do that," Lorelai said into the phone, trying not to growl in frustration. She was glad when she was finally able to end the phone call.

"I am sorry, that was Michel, it…," Lorelai said as she walked back into the living room, but stopped short when she noticed that the room was empty.

"Mum?" Lorelai called out, listening for any kind of response from her mother. She looked around the room and noticed that her mother's purse was gone as well. This was odd, her mother would never leave without saying goodbye. _What would Ms. Manners say to that one?_ Lorelai thought quietly, but then she caught sight of the two gifts, which lay on the table. She slowly walked over to them, and studied them for a moment. They were wrapped in red and blue paper, a bow attached to each of them. One was a large square box and the other a flat longer box.

She sat down on her chair again and with childlike logic took the larger box into her hands. Larger box meant larger gift, Lorelai reasoned and began unwrapping it carefully. She instantly noticed that the box was from one of the exclusive jewellery stores in Hartford. She had often looked into the shop window, admiring the beautiful rings and necklaces that were displayed there. When she put the last piece of paper away, a little envelope fell out and landed on the floor. Lorelai picked it up and recognized her mother's slender handwriting.

"_For Lorelai"_ the letter said and Lorelai opened it with trembling hands as she put the box down for a moment. She retrieved the elegant stationery and began to read.

_Dear Lorelai,_

_I don't know how our talk, which I hope we just had, will go and what the outcome will be. Whatever will happen, I want you to know that I thought about our situation a lot during the last weeks. I've come to the realization that Luke is the perfect man for you and I whish you all the best for your future together._

Lorelai shook her head in amazement as she read this. Why hadn't her mother said that while they were talking? It would have eased the whole situation.

_I don't know if you remembered the gift I mentioned when you told me that you and Max called your wedding off. It was an antique vase, which I thought would look lovely in your house. While I still consider the vase to be very beautiful, I think you would have turned it in for another monkey lamp. Therefore I have it safely stored away in our basement, in case you want to have it some day. _

_I remembered the old saying that a bride should have something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Now while it is the maid of honour's job to gather those things, I take it that the bride mother usually offers the old gift. I tried to think of something to give you and finally remembered your problem regarding the veil. So you'll find my special treat for you in this box. I had it slightly remodelled and polished. I hope you like it, and I hope that it will bring you as much luck in your marriage as it brought to me. May you and Luke enjoy your marriage as much as your father and I did and still do. _

_Love,_

_Your Mother _

Lorelai put the letter down and felt her eyes misting over. She picked up the box again and carefully opened it. She gasped as she realized what lay inside the box. She put her hands inside and carefully retrieved the beautifully modelled tiara. Lorelai admired it as the sunlight made the tiny diamonds, which were built in at the top, sparkle. She stood up and with the outmost care walked over to her mirror.

She put the tiara on top of her head with trembling hands and looked at herself in the mirror. To her surprise it didn't look ridiculous, it looked as if the tiara belonged there, as if it had been made for her. A single tear escaped as it hit her that her mother had shared something very special with her- the tiara she had worn on her own wedding day.

Lorelai walked back to the chair and sat down again. She carefully put the tiara back into its box and put her mother's letter next to it. She then turned to the second gift. It was from the jewellery store as well.

She unwrapped it quickly, and another letter fell out. She opened the envelope to find a single card inside.

_Since you so badly wanted some of those_

Lorelai raised her eyebrows at that and then opened the box. What she found inside made her laugh out loudly- six silver ice tea spoons. Lorelai shook her head, wiping two tears away that had escaped as she was still laughing softly. Her mother had known that she would open the larger gift first.

When Luke came storming into the house half an hour later- partly because he was worried and partly because his curiosity had gotten the better of him- he found Lorelai sitting in the kitchen, sipping coffee.

"Hey, everything alright with you?" he asked carefully, noticing her still somewhat puffy eyes. She nodded before she got up to kiss him tenderly.

"Sit down, I want to talk with you about something," Lorelai said before she began telling her fiancé about the afternoon and the plans that had ever since started to build in her head.

* * *

A little over a week later Emily still hadn't heard anything from her daughter. Even though it surprised and upset her a little, Emily forced herself to be patient. She was certain that Lorelai would show up at some point.

In the meantime she had kept herself busy. Richard had spent the rest of the week encouraging her to drive a car again. Emily had been really surprised at how changed her husband was. Instead of growing impatient with her as he usually would have been, he took his time to very gently take her fears of driving away. She was still shaking when she started the engine, but it got better and yesterday she had even managed to drive to the DAR meeting on her own.

Emily had to smile as she thought back to the meeting. She had been a little late, and Margaret Livingston had just been saying that Emily probably couldn't make it again and that the Ladies should maybe consider electing a new president, when she had strode in. Perfectly styled she had held her head high as she had marched past Margaret to the front, where she had thanked all the members for their support before she had presented them with an elaborate plan for the spring ball. She had it all planned and couldn't keep the smirk off her face as she saw the dear Mrs. Livingston sulking in the back, because yet another chance to become president of the DAR had passed for her. The fellow women had been thrilled at Emily's plans and Emily had yet again managed to secure her head position in society.

She was tending to the roses in the living room when she heard the front door opening and Richard calling out her name. He had been on the golf course, and returned with innumerable grass stains on his polo shirt.

"Oh look at you," she softly rebuked as he came over to kiss her hello.

"Yes well, golf is a tough sport," Richard remarked and feebly tried to clean his shirt. Emily smiled at him as she removed the golf cab from his head. Richard really was no man for hats, and she had never liked him wearing them. He decided to let the grass stay where it was and instead pulled Emily close to him.

"Hello," he said huskily, and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Hello," she gave back and readily gave in when he kissed her deeply. When they heard someone clearing his throat behind them, they quickly broke the kiss again.

"The mail arrived," the new maid said meekly, holding the letters she was carrying out to Emily.

"Thank you Maria," Emily said and took the letters. The maid nodded curtly before she left the room again.

"Maria, hm?" Richard asked and wasn't quite able to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"Yes, this Sabina broke three of my most favourite champagne glasses, there was no way I could keep her," Emily explained, daring Richard to disagree.

"I see," Richard simply said and felt a little sorry for the poor thing. Maybe they should give her a little bonus for being unfortunate enough to get between the lines of fire.

"I'll go and change, I guess dinner will be ready soon," Richard said, but only got a short nod in response, as Emily focused on the mail.

She swiftly sorted through the bills, but stopped when she came across a plain white envelope with her address on it. She opened it, and began reading.

_Dear Mrs. Gilmore,_

_I have heard of your great reputation as organization talent. I am currently planning my rather short notice wedding to my fiancé Luke Danes and wanted to ask you whether you might find the time to help me with the preparations. That would be greatly appreciated by me and my future husband. _

_If you find yourself able to spare the time, I have a dress fitting on Tuesday, 9 o'clock in Stars Hollow and would really like your advice on a thing or two._

_I am looking forward to seeing you._

_Sincerely,_

_Lorelai Victoria Gilmore_

_P.S: If I had the chance to change one thing in my life, I would get to know you. _

"Emily, have you seen my blue shirt? I can't for the life of mine find it," Richard said as he walked down the stairs again. He stopped short when he saw Emily holding a letter in her trembling hands. Tears were pooling in her eyes, and just about to spill.

"Emily?" Richard asked with concern in his voice. She turned to him, sniffling ever so softly as she held the letter out to him. Richard raised his eyebrows questioningly as he took the letter from his wife and began reading it.

When he had finished, he put the letter down and looked at Emily with a soft smile, before he drew her close to him again. She put her head onto his shoulder andallowed a couple of happy tears to escape as she felt Richard patting her back.

She thought of the months ahead of her and her little family and how far they had managed to come in the past weeks. How she would have never thought that Lorelai would allow her to organize her wedding or to even help her planning it.

When Richard pulled back again, she sighed happily as she looked into his loving eyes.

"I take it you will be very busy those next weeks?" Richard asked teasingly, and enjoyed it when he saw his wife's eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I think so," she replied, knowing that he was just as happy as she was. Her husband had never been one to show emotions easily, but she knew that like her he loved his daughter very much and wanted nothing more than a closer relationship with her.

When her eyes fell onto the giant family portrait, she smiled softly. For the first time in two decades she didn't feel a pang of sadness while looking at it. For the first time she felt hopeful and happy when she looked it.

"What do you think of a new family portrait, Richard? One with Rory and Luke on it?" Emily asked softly.Richard's gaze wandered to the painting, and back tohis wifeagain.

"I think that's lovely idea, but this time you'll be the one tying Lorelai down when she wants to bite the painter," he said and then joined his wife's carefree laughter of which both hoped they'd hear a lot more in the following months and years.

**The End**

And so it ends ;) It's an open ending and there may be some questions left unanswered, but did I mention the sequel yet? lol

As always I'd love to get reviews, just one more time ;)


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